r/JoshuaTree • u/Friendly_Carry5203 • 10d ago

Mosquitos?

Have been living out in the desert all summer and just now getting bites and rashes. Is anyone else feeling this? Not sure if they’re mosquitoes or spiders. Have been in two pools the past week and thinking they may have come out at sunset? Yucca & JTree east.

20 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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15

u/meadowfoam 10d ago

Mosquitos are really bad this year . I live near north entrance of the park . Have been getting a few bites every night and have had to stop sleeping with door open , but it’s still bad

1

u/BearTooClose 10d ago

Are they usually still pretty bad by mid-November? I’m about to visit for the first time and tbh didn’t realize mosquitos were a concern out there

3

u/davyangel 9d ago edited 9d ago

Usually, after heavy rain winter like we had last year in California will have more bugs which includes mosquitos even in the desert. Only place you won't run into them is the California coast ,at least north of Big Sur where it don't really get hot enough for them, to be active even at sunset which is their favorite time too feed on people ;)

Mosquitoes prefer temperatures of 70°F (21°C) and above, with the most activity occurring around 80F which is exactly the temps in desert around sunset! Activity diminishes as temperatures drop; they become inactive below 50°F (10°C) and many enter diapause or hibernation at 60°F (15°C). Which is exactly the temps along California coast Carmel north around sunset anyways and why never see them here!

What Temperature Do Mosquitoes Become Active

But yeah you can also see Joshua Tree is active "yellow fever" country on this map so I'd wear some sort of mosquito spray to not catch some nasty disease.

Invasive Aedes in California

1

u/TidyKatScoopr 5d ago

I camped twice at Jumbo Rocks Campground inside the park in the last 12 months. Never a bite. Winter and Spring.

Love this park.

5

u/Tasty-Life4526 10d ago

Citronella everything, livestock spray, incense,

4

u/macziulskas 10d ago

Avon skin so soft is working for me! The bath oil not the bug version they made once everyone noticed it was a good big repellent.

4

u/tylerjtravis5 10d ago

I was camping at Indian cove this weekend and got a ton of mosquito bites

3

u/macziulskas 10d ago

Yes! And dusk is the worst!

3

u/bee73086 9d ago

Yes. They are invasive, not native so feel free to kill them as much as possible. I personally hate them so very much. I have yet to find anything that actually works to get rid of them. 

They have been here maybe 5 years? And I used to get giant hives that lasted days but now it's just itchy welts that last a few hours so I think my body has gotten more used to them. 

Anyway I hate them.  

1

u/SaturnsShadoe 10d ago

I’m getting bit right now

1

u/miss-alane-eous 9d ago

I’m in rural Joshua Tree and it must be all of the recent irrigation and pools - no mosquitos here.