to be raging that i got bitten in ENGLAND

[scarednoob]

BASTARD mosquito got into the bedroom the other night. happily swooped onto profligate window-leaver-opener-and-therefore-all-his-fault-it-got-in-in-the-first-place DP, gave him one solitary lousy tiny bite, discarded him and moved on to feast on me. I have about 8 massive bites that have all swollen up and are driving me insane with itching and looking gross.

it's ENGLAND. I don't expect to be bitten by mosquitoes in my own home on a work night. surely that's the sort of thing that you expect if you go on holiday somewhere nice and hot and exotic and worth it?

bah. also, got any good remedies for ugly swollen mosquito bites on hands, wrists and ankles and legs, apart from lady of the night style long gloves and boots??

OP do you have stagnant water about? A bucket or even a plastic bag with an inch of water in it is enough for them to breed. I checked the garden yesterday and I did and they were. I could kick myself, on my unswollen left knee because I knew this and forgot to check.

If you are allergic and react badly, taking an antihistamine tablet might be worth it - I had to do that on holidays on the Norfolk Broads one year, got bitten about 20 times on each leg and was itching like a bastard. Did help.

There are dozens of species of mosquito in England and I've never met somebody who is surprised by being bitten in this country. DH and DD are bitten nightly every summer. I can't believe you're not aware of this! Guess you're lucky.

My friend had a hideous reaction to a ladybird bite and was hospitalised. That was fairly surprising.

limited - that sucks (literally), urgh. I knocked the top off the one on (the remains of) my thumb on DD's buggy and it's so much worse than the others.

definitely no stagnant water around; it's a central London flat, which is perhaps partly why I've escaped the bastards this far!

We're in Norfolk. Our broads mosquitoes are evil.

They are, Show, they are.
I have been bitten by a ladybird but hadn't heard of anyone reacting to a bite before, that IS very surprising! As far as I know, they don't inject anything, do they? just have nippers? Maybe the ladybird had something narsty on its nippers...

That's okay Thumb. I'll try your antihistamine tip.

PopFizz I always used to call them gnats. I meant the same insect as the one people call mosquitoes. I don't do it any more after I called in sick in my first job saying I had gnat bites.

There were about 20 infected bites all over my feet and ankles that were so swollen I couldn't get my shoes on or flex my feet to walk without pain. I had to have antibiotics.

When I went back to work three days later I realised that they were all disgusted with my workshy attitude - even when I showed them the sores.

I've learned to exaggerate things now. Everyone else does

Ok this is going to sound really weird - but I react really badly to them, got bitten the other night, nothing in to put on it .... There in the bathroom was a tube of cream for piles - reduces itching and inflammation - so I gave it a shot. Absolutely brilliant! I will now use it rather than anything else ever! I reapplied when it started to itch again and after a few days it faded rather than came up in the big ugly purple blotch I usually get!

Fwiw - my GP told me antihistamines are a waste of time for mozzies as its NOT a histamine reaction we get. A topical cream applied to bring down swelling is the way to go.

I had no idea ladybirds could bite! and I grew up in the countryside, so I'm not a total townie.

our next door neighbour grew up in the outback in Australia and never had a single problem - moved to England, got bitten by a common house spider, and her arm blew up like a swiss roll. until that, I didn't know those bastards could bite either.

too many bitey bitey bastards!

Rubbing lemon on it reduces the itchiness. I hate mosquitos.

Lanacane is your friend here ... I find that once the awful itching stops, everything else is cope-able with

I thought they were on the increase because of the more widespread use of water butts?
I don't react to mozzie bites - I actually noticed one biting me once and just a pinprick of blood....
However I am not gloating - I do react to midges (and living in Scotland they are more of a problem) if I get one bite it makes me itch all over
...and horse flies ...as I discovered this summer Bee stings ...

My dh doesn't get bitten by mosquitos. He says he has bitter blood . It's true, we've been on holidays where me and the kids have been bitten on arms and legs and he's untouched. I think some people let off some kind of odour that deters them.

I'm getting bitten every time I go for a run at the moment. I second Lanacane. Also Boots sell a "freezing" type spray for bites etc which really helps.

There have always been mozzies in the uk!

Indeed there were malarial swamps everywhere in England historically and the Pilgrims were all affected. Brought malaria to the US, as well as their religious intolerance.

On a happier note, the mozzie borne Zika virus has reached Manhattan, so we should be extra careful. I'd say get a net.

I also blame climate change.

Hate - in case you go anywhere where malaria is a danger!! Your DH probably does get bitten (so could get malaria) - he just doesn't react to the bites so doesn't know.
I thought they didn't bite me until I heard about different reactions to different bites -then this year I actually saw one feasting and I was oblivious...pinprick of blood but didn't leave a mark
I first heard about different reactions because of fleas - I don't react to flea bites - my Dsis does. When were growing up she was the indicator that the cats had fleas -but they slept mainly on my bed...and I have never knowingly had a flea bite.
My granny used to say horseflies liked me ...but again it will be the way I react to them.
Same reason why I didn't understand why people were afraid of wasp stings - I've been stung and thought they aren't that bad.
But my bee sting was grim - hurt like hell for days, 20cm around it swelled up but DD2 was stung by one last summer and it was a tiny bump that hurt for 30 mins...

Ladybirds do bite. There was an invasion of them in 1976 or 77. They were everywhere. And something made them go rogue and people got bitten. Luckily not me. They also leak yellowish, nasty metallic smelling fluid that stings if it gets into cuts.

Despite that I like them because I love gardening and they eat aphids. I watched one chomp its way through loads. It's scary even if you're not an aphid. What I thought was their black head with big white eyes is like a crash helmet protecting their real head which is soft and grey. When they want to eat they flip it back and their jaws come out and bite. It's like that moment in Alien when the inner jaws extend and stab Yaphet Kotto and there's nothing he can do.

Mum has bought a liquid filled anti mosquito brooch from the P&Q stores and it seems to repel them.

LAdybirds are amazing. But even quite experienced gardeners can sometimes not recognise their larvae - I was with a few such people one day and saw a ladybird larva on a rose; one of them went to kill it because they didn't realise what it was! Admittedly, they're pretty ugly and don't look anything like the adult beetle, but still!

Buzzes in takes your blood and then goes back to its 6000 bedroom house and it's 4 million pounds in benefits- something should be done!!

I heard a radio programme about deadly mosquito-borne diseases. A discarded plastic bag with an inch of stagnant rain water in it is like a lake to a mosquito. You can build away from stagnant water and spray insecticide but all it takes is one discarded bag. Then you think about how many billions of them there are in the world.

Thumb I did exactly that before I realised what they were. I squashed them because they look harmful - like grey prickly maggots.

Just get some insect repellent and dab some on before going to bed.

Drying washing outside is another way to get bitten; they get inside your clothes and lurk.

(And yes, whole communities used to be permanently afflicted with fever due to the malaria carrying mosquitoes.)

Lily beetles look pretty but I kill the little bastards without mercy. Luckily because they're scarlet you can see them easily