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Many people move here thinking that life will be all beaches and barbies! Well a lot of it is, but you also need to deal with the practicalities of life. This series of articles is designed to make this easier for you. |
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Living in a warm climate brings with it some problems, one of which is how you learn to live with unwelcome visitors to your home or apartment. Ants Understanding how ants live is key to dealing with them. Ants are social insects which live together in cooperative, intermingling colonies. The colonies may range in size from hundreds to millions of individuals, depending on the species. Within each colony are different types of individuals, each with a specific function. All ant colonies contain one or more queens, whose primary role is to lay eggs. The eggs hatch into white, grub-like larvae that later transform into adult "worker" ants. The workers feed and care for the queens and developing brood, and are the ones seen foraging for food and water, often at great distances from the colony. Ants lay down invisible odour trails, which the workers follow between food and the nest. In many species, the trail of ants is distinct enough to be followed back to the nesting location, or to where the ants are entering from outdoors. If you want to get rid of your ant problem on a long term basis the best solution is to use bait. These are available in plastic containers that you place somewhere along the ant trail and you can buy them from supermarkets and ferreterias. Initially these will be increased activity as the ants are attracted to the bait. They will then take this back to the nest where the bait will affect the whole colony. You need to allow around a week before you should start to notice a difference. In the meantime it is important to not spray or kill any of the ants around the trap as they are doing the work of dealing with the problem for you. Another option is to use a deterrent. If the ants are entering your property through doorways you can get a spray that sop them coming in. One example of this is Laca Rastreros, a spray available from ferreterias. This is an insecticide that will kill on contact but which also leaves a residue that deters the insects. Spray this across thresholds and leave to dry. Keep your pets away from this area for at least an hour. This should also help to deter other insects such as cockroaches. Mosquitoes Mosquitoes, luckily not the malarial variety, are a problem here, especially when the wind drops. As mosquitoes do not live in colonies like ants, you cannot destroy them at source. Insecticide sprays will kill any that have already got into your home, but then you will have to keep all the windows and doors closed to prevent further ones entering. Unfortunately as the nights are warm you want to keep the windows open, so you may want to consider some of the deterrents available. Electric plug ins which release a deterrent odour can be very effective. However, this can be expensive if you leave them on all the time, and painful if you forget to plug them in. One option is to have have these plugged into timers in the main living areas of the house which helps them to last longer and which gives you protection at the times when you need it. The plug ins and refills can be bought in supermarkets and timers can be found in ferreterias. Mosquitoes hate the smell of lemon, in particular citronella. Yellow candles that give off a citronella fragrance are available from most supermarkets, often in attractive terracotta pots or as tea lights that you can put in your own containers. These are particularly useful for using outside at night. It is only the pregnant females that need blood, and this to help the development f their eggs. Some Sonic repellents use this principle to transmit the sound of a male mosquito, which the pregnant females in their current state, are keen on avoiding. Others give out the sound of a dragonfly, the mosquitoes main predator. These have had mixed reviews though as to how effective they are. If you are getting bitten while you are out on the town, there are a number of chemical insect repellents available, but many people don't like using these or are sensitive to the chemicals they contain. Instead you can try putting a few drops of citronella oil in your body lotion. This oil can be found in health shops. One commercially produced product that just uses natural ingredients is Al Fresco. This can be bought from http://www.alfresco.uk.com/ It is expensive, but smells wonderful! If you don't want to cover all your body, you can use a repellent soaked wristband, such as these available from http://www.mybeautysecrets.co.uk/Product.aspx?ID=1178 A more permanent solution of you own a property here is to have mosquito screens installed on all your windows. These can be made to measure for your windows or you can buy a standard size from shops such as Norte y Sur and cut it to fit yourself. Many of these open and close so that people can still exit safely in the case of a fire.
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Dealing
with Unwelcome Visitors|
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