Mosquito bait

The bad: Asian tiger mosquito (Zanzara tigre in Italian)

The mosquitoes here are killer!!! I can handle a lot of bugs and insects but mosquitoes are the bane of my existence. And the ones here in Sardinia are especially vicious. I’m guessing they’re called tiger mosquitoes because of their black and white stripes. I’d take a picture but that would require keeping them alive and sorry, your entertainment just isn’t worth getting tortured over. If you’d like a photo of a smashed up mosquito, though, I’d be happy to oblige.

I think there are 5 mosquito bites in the photo below. There’s a big massive one just to the left of the strap that left a swollen mark the size of a quarter. I guess that bite alone wasn’t enough and the b**** decided to have dessert as well, resulting in the 3 small bites surrounding the big one and the one protruding beside my armpit.

Mosquito bites from hell

They never seem to get full because I’m pretty sure I counted 10 bites from one mosquito alone in a span of 5 minutes. A bit of a history lesson for you- apparently, the first Asian tiger mosquito was first spotted in Olbia (M’s hometown) end of October 2006 due to shipments of used tires.

Due to Sardinia’s mosquito invasion I now have two new best friends:

1. Mosquito repellent has replaced all perfumes and body sprays. I don’t care if the smell also repels human beings so long as my body remains unbitten.

2. The amazing electric insect zapper as shown below. I sleep with this clenched in my hands at night and turn it on the very millisecond I hear that incessant buzzing. There is nothing more satisfying than swatting the zapper around and seeing the spark indicating that the mosquito has made contact with the racquet.

Mosquitoes, beware! I will get you...