Where mosquitoes hide

The most important things in brief

• Keep the balcony door, patio door and windows locked - basically a good way to prevent mosquitoes from entering your apartment.
• But no matter how careful you are, the pests always find a way in.
• During the day, the bloodsuckers cleverly hide in cool and dark places in the room where they are almost impossible to detect.
• In cracks, crevices and holes, the insects usually go unnoticed by us during the day.

Mosquitoes have a remarkable gift: they can turn themselves invisible. Almost, anyway, and that's only for the human eye. Because if you are woken up at night by the characteristic buzzing and turn on the light to finish off the intruder who wants to get your blood, the bloodsucker is usually swallowed up by the face of the earth.

House mosquitoes are there all day

As soon as you flip the light switch, the pests seem to vanish into thin air. Then they quickly disappear into those small niches where they have been hiding during the day. Because the house mosquito is already in your apartment, it always finds ways to harass you in your own four walls. She uses every moment of inattentiveness to get inside from outside.

You should therefore do your utmost not to open the door and gate to other insects thirsty for blood in the evening. It's hard enough to get rid of those mosquitoes that hide in every little hole in the masonry, in every little crack in the apartment during the day. No place is too dark for them, none too cool. There they hide from their enemies, for example in the closet, behind murals and furniture - i.e. everywhere where we don't actively look for them during the day.

How to distract the beasts at night?

By the time we go to bed (and are about to fall asleep), the mosquitoes will come out of their hiding places and invade us. Then an emergency solution has to be found in case we usually can't get hold of them at night. Because the animals not only orientate themselves on the carbon dioxide we exhale, but above all love the smell of sweat that we exude, especially in summer, it is a good measure to wear a sweat-smelling T-shirt - which you have worn during the day for sports, for example – to drape in the bedroom.

Mosquitoes usually pounce on that piece of clothing and you're off the hook. But only if you smell as little of sweat as possible. It is therefore advisable to take a shower or wash yourself thoroughly before going to bed in summer.

Means to get rid of mosquitoes

On the other hand, it is less efficient if you leave the bedroom door open and switch on the light elsewhere - because mosquitoes are attracted not by brightness but by smells. Lavender oil, mosquito repellents or ultrasonic devices in the bedroom are more suitable.

DIY mosquito traps may also work. Put soda or cola in a bowl and add some washing-up liquid and place the container in an exposed place. When things are going well, the bloodsuckers are attracted to sugar. The soap loses its surface tension and the insects sink and drown.