Aedes

[Kinygos]

I have discovered three things since Thursday when I had a trip to Halki.

1) It is not good to launch your boat before fitting the drain plug. (Many thanks to Bob for giving the plug to me while I did the little Dutch boy bit in Fanes harbour!)

2) Putting your electronic Nissan Micra keys in with the washing is not a good idea, but they do survive unscathed!

3) Another less pleasing discovery about survival is that the larvae and pupae of Aedes thrive in salt water. I thought that salt water was a no-go area for insects. These are corroborative references.

jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/10/1/27.pdf

www.springerlink.com/index/W79776R866671350.pdf

On a trip to Trachia I found a pool with mosquito larvae & pupae happily wriggling about. There were salt crystals around the pool. I dipped a finger & tasted it. Mediterranean water is saltier that oceanic water, but this was brine. I did not identify them as Aedes, for all I knew they were Anopheles, however it matters little.

It does explain why I got eaten alive on Halki. Pack the DEET folks! Aedes does not carry malaria (that’s Anopheles), just Dengue & Yellow Fever! Don’t panic, don’t panic!

Seriously, they do, or can, carry something that seems to resemble a herpetic virus, which turns an annoying itch into a big red ugly vesicular lump.

[Deleted]

Hmmm!! What pleasurable outings have you planned for next week?
Any sign of swine flu? ;D

[Kinygos]

WARNING
If you receive an email telling you that you can catch swine flu from tinned pork - ignore it - it's just Spam.

[Deleted]

Nice one. I'll grunt you that ;D

[davidfromealing]

I was in Lesvos in May and there were some HUGE mosquitos - almost half an inch long - which were apparently brought in on a boat of tyres from North Africa. They didn't seem to bite that much but were flying around everywhere and every morning there was a sprinkling of them on the floor.

[Liz]

My biggest concern re Kinygos' first post is summed up in this line

On a trip to Trachia I found a pool with mosquito larvae & pupae happily wriggling about. There were salt crystals around the pool. I dipped a finger & tasted it.

...............why would you stick your finger in there ......and even more scarey is that you then stuck it in yer gob ! ;D

[Kinygos]

I am a scientist & a Fortean. How else should I test the salinity? Besides I have consider the possiblities of Mosquito soup. I have tasted the "mock oyster" on Halki, sea urchin roe, Durian scooped from a river in Sarawak. I admit I did not drink Kava on my recent trip to Vanuatu, But what is life without a sense of adventure? Why would some people drink something that tastes like "a mixture of cheap wine & Toilet Duck"?
Life is full of new experiences, Enjoy!

[Liz]

I'll stick to the wine and toilet duck ;D

[carol]

If you are referring to the Retsina that some of us are pining for it tastes like nectar to the discerning few ;D ;D

[Kinygos]

Hmmmmmmmmm Retsina, Pining (pine-ing)

[Liz]

At least nothing wriggles in it ;D ;D

[kathy]

Kinygos, i just read the last few messages out loud to John, my husband, because he wanted to know why I was laughing so much..........He wants to know how you know what Toilet Duck tastes like ? ;D

[Kinygos]

See here, there were quotes on that! A quote from "Motorboats Monthly" Ask them. I do drink retsina, sometimes. Anyone had the Easter soup mayiritsa? I did have a Meze/tapas on Fuchal harbour at O Barralino which was unidentified guts in a tomato sauce. The local dogs enjoyed it better than me. It didn't wriggle. The crew member on the boat in Vanuatu ate the beating heart from the Yellowfin tuna I caught. That wriggled!

[Di]

Kinygos, you're not Simon the Fisherman in disguise are you I only ask as you're named after his boat

[Liz]

Methinks you've been sprung Simon ;D ;D