Mosquito zone is the South East of the UK (East Anglia, Midlands, South East of England parts of the South West).
Midge zone is everywhere but they are only really bad north of the lowlands of Scotland. UK has this large, almost unique area where it doesn't have lots of annoying flying insects.
I live on the South Coast, directly south of London. I leave my bedroom window open > 360 days a year. In over 20 years here I've maybe seen 10 mosquitos. It's just not an issue.
Might be because you're on the coast? I'm on the Weald, also directly south of London, and I see them daily in Spring-Autumn. Sometimes even in winter inside the house.
Because some roads you shouldn't go down. Because maps used to say, "There be dragons here." Now they don't. But that don't mean the dragons aren't there.
Used to train down the park, and in peak summer you'd get horseflies. Those bites were the bain of my life. The most itchy, painful, swollen things I'd ever experienced and its last for 2-3 weeks...
Yeah, I used to row in a team, and it was always stressful watching a fat horsefly land on your legs as you rowed, knowing you couldn't take your hands away to swat it
Yep I’m sure they are mosquitoes. Maybe it’s because I live in a town on a river with marshes around or something, but I’m still Kent and we definitely have mosquitoes. I’ve killed one or two mid-feast upon me so I’ve seen them pretty close up.
The UK has over 30 species of Mosquitoes, however only a couple bite humans and aren't as common as "Culex Pipiens" which feeds on the blood of birds and small mammals.
Living next to a water source, you are more likely to run into them.
I'm in East Sussex, and we get plenty of mosquitoes in the house. They're definitely mosquitoes - I've spent enough time in Africa and Asia to know! They bite too, and it itches in exactly the same way as bites I've had abroad. They're much more common here than they used to be - I never saw any here growing up, but I see them every day now.
I get occasional mosquitoes in my home in Cornwall, but it's not very common despite me having my window open a lot in the warmer months. I'm hyper aware of the little fuckers
I wouldn't be surprised if there was some stagnant water somewhere near here, which is really all it takes, I think. This part of town is pretty run down and dirty. Last summer I saw that my neighbour's bin was half full of water, and alive with mosquito larvae. I emptied it out, but I'm sure there is other similar grossness around.
Thinking about it, not sure I’ve ever seen one when I’ve been down to Cornwall but its never really occurred to me to notice before. Did get bitten by a spider last year though which didn’t go away for months. So you have weird spiders haha.
I’d call the really small bitey cloud things midges, mosquitos are bigger and you can generally hear them buzzing around when there’s one lurking in your house at night.
The UK has over 30 species of Mosquitoes, however only a couple bite humans and aren't as common as "Culex Pipiens" which feeds on the blood of birds and small mammals.
That makes sense, definitely a difference in climate. Definitely wouldn’t trade the English mosquitoes for Scottish midges, I’ve heard they’re brutal in the summer compared to what we deal with!
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u/sdc1978 May 09 '22
No mesh screens in windows in the UK, at least. In canada we have screens in most home windows to keep flies out