Mosquitoes and Ticks

• Wear light coloured, loose fitting clothes – long sleeved shirts, trousers, covered shoes and socks are preferable, clothing can be sprayed with mosquito repellent for further protection.
• Apply insect repellent to exposed skin areas (e.g. hands and back of neck).
• Use a repellent that contains DEET (diethyltoluamide), and re-apply repellent regularly. The NSW Health Department of Medical Entomology have ongoing research projects on the effectiveness of mosquito repellents. Research currently suggests that repellents containing DEET are still more effective than other products.
• Use mosquito bed-nets to keep out mosquitoes.
• Use mosquito coils and mats to kill adult mosquitoes.
• Cover chimney tops during summer months.
• Place fly screens on all doors and windows and keep them in good condition.
• Make sure window and door screens are closed tight, and
• Use citronella lanterns or candles if dining outside after dusk.

• Empty standing water from buckets, plastic covers, toys and pot plant trays in the house or garden.
• Refresh and maintain pet drinking bowls and bird baths regularly to avoid stagnant water accumulating.
• Drain or fill temporary pools with dirt or sand.
• Keep swimming pools treated and circulating.
• Keep rain gutters unclogged.
• Avoid using water retaining plants such as bromeliads in your garden. Where these plants are present, use a high pressure spray to kill larvae.
• Screen openings to tanks, wells or other large water containers with wire gauze no coarser than 1mm mesh. This prevents mosquitoes from laying eggs.
• Avoid planting thick vegetation near water sources such as a swimming pool or pond.
• Ensure your lawn is cut regularly.
• Avoid watering your garden around sunset, this is the time that mosquitos are most active, and will be attracted to humid areas.
• Keep fishponds stocked with fish to prevent mosquitoes breeding.
• Grow plants and herbs that have the potential to repel mosquitoes. These include:
  • Basil, Marigold, Pennyroyal and Rue – planted in pots near doorways and windows. Leaves can also be rubbed onto the skin.
  • Mint, lavender, onion and garlic – used in a spray from equal parts soaked in water for 24 hours.
  • Pelargonium Citrosa (citrus geranium) – offers localised protection by releasing a citronella scent.

Ticks have a beak-like mouthpiece and a pear-shaped body which becomes engorged when feeding. Adult ticks are 4mm in size with 8 legs, nymph stage is 1.2mm and the larvae are 0.5mm in size with 6 legs. The larvae are often difficult to see until engorged.

You can reduce your risk of tick bite by:

• wearing long sleeve shirts and tucking shirts into pants
• wearing long pants tucked into socks
• wearing a hat
• wearing light coloured clothing
• using a tropical strength insect repellent (use on clothes too)
• wearing permethrin-treated clothing
• avoiding brushing up against vegetation

Ticks can wander for up to 2 hours looking for a place to attach. After being in the garden:

• check your body particularly behind your ears, scalp, groin, and armpits
• change clothing, placing unlaundered clothing in a hot dryer for 20 minutes to kill any ticks
• groom and check pets

Ticks favour moist humid vegetation close to the ground. Reduce the likelihood of ticks in your garden by:

• keeping lawn short
• removing weeds and dead vegetation
• pruning low vegetation to increase sunlight
• employing a professional pest controller in areas where ticks regularly occur

Kill the tick where it is attached, do not attempt to remove a live tick. If in doubt about removing ticks or you experience any symptoms seek medical attention.

To remove a larvae or nymph:

• Use a Permethrin based cream (e.g. Lyclear) and dab onto the tick.
• Cream is to be applied lightly, rubbing the cream in may disturb the tick.
• Wait for the tick to die (1 to 3 hours) and avoid disturbing the tick.
• Once dead, the tick should drop off.

To remove an adult tick:

• Freeze and kill the tick using an ether containing spray (e.g. wart or skin tag remover). The spray is to be held 0.5cm above the tick and multiple sprays up to 5 times may be required.
• Wait for the tick to die and avoid disturbing the tick.
• Once dead, the tick should drop off.

If a dead tick does not drop off it may be removed using surgical tweezers or scraping it out in the opposite direction to the way it’s attached. Do not compress or squeeze the body if required to remove a dead tick.