'Under seige': Residents flee from army of mozzies

AN ARMY of mosquitoes "like something out of a movie” attacking residents in coastal towns.

Mosquitos are out in force in coastal towns. Picture: Mosquito

AN ARMY of mosquitoes has been reported by residents in the Ballina and Lennox Head areas.

Rikki Petrie, who runs several outdoor fitness bootcamps in the area, said the influx was recently proving so bad, clients under attack from the insects were fleeing from their sessions.

And it's not isolated to dawn and dusk; Ms Petrie said the problem was ongoing throughout the day and despite any use of insect repellents.

"They're not coping, people are walking out," she said.

"We were under siege."

One of her coaches phoned her recently to report hearing mosquitoes colliding with his car "like rain".

"It's like something out of a movie," she said.

Ms Petrie said she paid almost $6000 per year for her licences to operate in public spaces.

But she's having to hire indoor locations anyway to escape the mozzie influx.

After posting about the barrage on social media, her experiences were echoed by others.

"People can't go to their washing lines," she said.

"People are running to their cars."

While it sounds like something out of an apocalyptic movie, it's raised genuine concerns about mosquito-transmitted diseases.

In a statement, medical entomologist Dr Cameron Webb - who has been engaged by Ballina Shire Council - had been in the area and had explained the current warm weather, coupled with recent rainfall and king tides bringing water into local wetlands were the makings of prime conditions for mosquitoes.

A long, mostly dry summer had seen lower mosquito numbers than usual, Dr Webb said.

But recent high tides and rain have seen populations boom.

"Fortunately, mosquitoes don't live much more than a couple of weeks so most of these mosquitoes will be gone shortly," he said.

"Unless there is some substantial rainfall soon, we won't see these high numbers of mosquitoes persisting through until April.

"Hopefully the cooler weather arrives and mosquitoes won't be so active."