Insect Defense

Surviving The Onslaught Of Summer Insects

Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal. The first robin, and those first glimpses of green are welcome respites from a long dark winter. The beauty of wildflowers in bloom make summer the favorite season of many. While I enjoy all season, spring and summer are my least favorite. My problem with those two seasons stem in part from the honorary Michigan State bird, the mosquito.

These aerial invaders wreak havoc not only your picnic, but they can also have lasting negative health effects. They make the warmer months not only uncomfortable but downright dangerous. The itchy, red, swollen, bites can be much more than a mere nuisance. They can carry life threatening diseases such as California encephalitis, dengue fever, eastern equine encephalitis, Jamestown canyon virus, Lacrosse encephalitis, Malaria, St Louis equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, yellow fever, and Zika virus.

The most common mosquito genera in the United States are Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes. The Culex genus of mosquito hibernate during the winter and emerge in spring to lay their eggs on the surface of any standing water source. This genus of mosquito is known to carry West Nile disease. The Anopheles genus of mosquitoes lay their eggs in clean fresh water sources and are known to carry malaria. The Aedes genus or mosquitoes lay their eggs in overflow areas. They are the ones who use old tires, flower pots, bird baths, etc. And they are known to carry eastern equine encephalitis, as well as dengue and yellow fevers.

Along with the onslaught of aerial attackers, we must also combat the enemy from below. Ticks have become an increasing threat in recent years. Over the last 3 years, I have personally witnessed an explosion in the number of ticks I find during my survival classes.

The most common ticks found in Michigan are the American Dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, the brown dog tick, Rhipecephalus sanuguineus, the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, also known as the black legged tick, the Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and the Woodchuck tick Ixodes cookei. These little monsters carry diseases such as Babesiosis, Lyme disease, Rocky mountain spotted fever, Powassan encephalitis, Monocytic ehrlichiosis, Tularemia, and Granulocytic anaplasmosis.

Mosquitoes and ticks are only two of the disease carrying arthropods which torment anyone venturing outdoors in the warm weather. Some of the others are chiggers, biting midges, and sand fleas. Coming or going; above or below; warm weather brings with it an almost constant attack from disease carrying insects. How can we, as lovers of the natural world, protect ourselves from these dangers?

Combat experiences with yellow fever during the Spanish American War led the US Military to begin a search for an effective broad-spectrum insect repellant. Insect borne illnesses are a huge drain on military manpower. Not only is there a drain on the unit from soldiers missing due to illness, but you also have all the support staff necessary to treat and care for those soldiers. DEET, diethyltoluamide, was developed to combat those losses. This has become the gold standard insect repellent to which all others are compared.

Permethrin was first developed in 1975. While permethrin cannot be used on your skin, when applied to clothing, it has been shown to safely and effectively repel biting insects. In 2010 the Army began issuing permethrin treated combat uniforms to all deploying soldiers. Professionally treated clothing such as this has been shown to remain effective through 70 washes. They say that is beyond the life of most garments. There are outlets where you can purchase similarly factory-permethrin-treated clothes. You can also treat own clothing, backpacks, and tents, using a 0.5% permethrin solution. I find that clothing I treat by saturating with this diluted solution, and then hung up to dry, effectively repels biting insects for up to 4 washes.

When in an area where biting insects are particularly aggressive, I find that along with treating my clothing with Permethrin, applying DEET to my exposed skin offers the best possible protection. When I am in an area where the insects are not as aggressive, I can use a natural insect repellent on exposed skin. I have tried eucalyptus oil, sage, peppermint oil, wild bergamot, yarrow, and a host of others. I have found a 1:4 ratio Yarrow tincture to be the most effective of the natural remedies. It is not however, as effective as DEET.

Many people have concerns over the safety of DEET. In 1998 the EPA, reported they had identified 46 cases of seizures and 4 deaths associated with DEET. It further estimated that since 1960 the incidence of seizures linked to DEET to be fewer than 1 in 100 million uses. According to the World Health Organization, over 2 billion 500 million people are at risk for possibly life-threatening insect borne illnesses. The total population of the world is 7.442 billion. This means that 33% of the entire population of the world is at risk of developing a possibly fatal insect borne illness. I think a 1 in 100,000,000 chance of getting sick from DEET is far better odds than a 1 in 3 chance of contracting a possibly fatal insect borne illness.