Mozztralia Day bloodbath: why January 26 is the day that will bring a bitey buzzy blitz

GET swatting like you’ve never swatted before. This Australia Day could be the start of an unimaginably awful mosquito plague. This is why.

mosquito Aedes notoscriptus pic/courtesy UQ/Entomology/dept insects mosquitoes transmits Ross River & Barmah ...

TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Swat! Splat!

Be prepared to do a lot of this in coming weeks, Australia. Swat like you’ve never swatted before, because Mozziegeddon is about to be upon us.

Want to know when Mozziegeddon starts? Mozztralia Day, that’s when. Seriously, we’re not making this up. January 26 is when all the trouble’s going to start, and here’s why.

On January 26, many locations in eastern Australia will experience a king tide. These tides happen just twice a year, once in summer and once in winter, and they’re higher than any other tides.

According to Dr Cameron Webb of the University of Sydney, these king tides will flood coastal wetlands, and this is likely to create the perfect conditions for breeding billions of bitey barbecue botherers.

In other words… Mozziegeddon! Aaaarrrgh!

“In some respects, Australia Day could be the start of the peak in mosquito activity,” Dr Webb confirms in slightly less hysterical tones than our own.

Prepare for Mozziegeddon. Cartoon by Paul Zanetti.

As many of us know, it’s already been an absolutely mozzierrific summer.

“Along the coast we’ve seen a higher number of mosquitoes than we normally do earlier in the season, and that’s continued through summer due to rain,” Dr Webb says.

Warm weather and abundant water are like flowers and chocolates to mozzies. They simply can’t help themselves from mozzying on down to the bottom of the garden and making beautiful mozzic together.

A few days later, the bloody little blighters are already biters. But what else is there to know about this summery scourge? We put our top mozzie questions to Dr Webb, who was only too happy to give us the buzz.

ANT (ironic name considering the story): So is it true? Are some people mozzie magnets?

DR WEBB (ironic surname given area of expertise): Yes it is. It’s a real thing. We know that mosquitoes prefer to bite some people more than others. It comes down to a chemical cocktail of smells on your skin. Everybody’s a little bit different. There’s not one single explanation other than your skin smells more delicious to them.

ANT: So it’s kind of like the way some people prefer a sweet Riesling, others a crisp chardonnay.

DR WEBB: You could say that. There are thousands of mosquito species around the world and each has a different palate.

ANT: It’s definitely not a blood type thing?

DR WEBB: No.

These are baby mozzies at the larval stage. They need squishing, in our opinion.

ANT: Will all mosquito species bite people given the chance?

DR WEBB: No, there are a whole lot that don’t bite people.

ANT: What about domestic pets like cats and dogs. Do they get bitten too?

DR WEBB: Yes, but again it depends on the species of mosquito. Most common species will bite any warm blooded animal. I should mention that mosquitoes can transmit dog heartworm.

ANT: As the world’s climate gets warmer, does that mean more mozzies?

DR WEBB: One of the issues with climate change is the southern spread of tropical diseases like malaria and dengue fever. In Australia, what we’re likely to see is an extension of the mosquito season from earlier in spring to later in autumn.

ANT: What about the Ross River virus? Could we see more of that?

DR WEBB: We could. You can already get Ross river virus in every state and territory. It’s as likely in Perth as Darwin and it infects 5,000 people every year. There are about 40 different Australian mosquito species that can spread the virus.

ANT: How serious is it?

DR WEBB: It won’t kill you but in a small number of cases it is severely debilitating and could leave you bedridden for weeks or even months.

ANT: I’ve always wondered whether there’s one main type of Aussie mozzie.

DR WEBB: There is. The aedes notoscriptus is found in almost everyone’s backyard. It doesn’t breed in wetlands. It just needs a little bit of water like in the bottom of potplants.

Hi, my name’s Aedes but you can just call me “annoying little bastard”.

ANT: So thaaaat’s why you get them even in a dryish garden.

DR WEBB: Yes, and the water only needs to be there for about a week. So if you want to keep mozzies out, empty any containers of water at least once a week.

ANT: Are male or female mozzies worse?

DR WEBB: Only the females bites.

ANT: What?

DR WEBB: Yeah, the males just have sex and drink sugary drinks.

ANT: Sex and beer. That doesn’t sound like the worst life ever.

DR WEBB: Yeah but they’re done and dusted after they mate. They only live maybe a week to two weeks whereas females live three weeks. She needs all that blood for the nutritional hit that helps egg development.

ANT: Endless sex and beer but a shorter life. Still don’t think it’s the worst trade-off. Lastly Dr Webb, where’s the worst place in the world for mozzies?

DR WEBB: There are legends about entomologists being hammered by mosquitoes in the Arctic.

ANT: So it’s not somewhere warm?

DR WEBB: No, they’ve adapted to that really tiny window of summer around the Arctic Circle and they come out in swarms. That might scare off some people but I’d love to go.

ANT: Of course you would. Thanks for talking to us, Dr Cameron Webb, mosquito guru from the University of Sydney.

DR WEBB: My pleasure.

Originally published as Mozztralia Day bloodbath: why January 26 is the day that will bring a bitey buzzy blitz