Summer is a time to get outside but as we know all too well, we also share the sun with some unwelcome pests.
Now, health officials are calling on the public to take some simple steps to stop mosquitoes from biting and breeding this summer.
While a few bites outdoors are pretty common at this time of year, it's bites of a different kind that health authorities are trying to prevent.
Thanks to those bites, skin infections become a real issue during the summer.
There are a few simple steps you can take to beat the bugs.
"Managing them with basic first aid which is keeping them clean, dry, avoiding long nails, keeping them clean - that stops the kids getting infections and having to come the ED," paediatrician Dr Alisa Tuck said.
"When you're outside at the BBQ in summer, try to avoid wearing dark colours. Long-sleeved, light-coloured clothing is ideal because mosquitos will avoid that," Northland Regional Council’s Debe Anderson said.
“If you want to keep mosquitos out of your environment, make sure your backyard is free of anything that will hold water like buckets, drums."
Mosquitos are the deadliest creatures on the planet, killing about a million people a year by spreading diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
While the particular mosquitos that transmit those diseases aren't currently in New Zealand, experts are always on the lookout.
Surveillance programmes at our key ports of entry help with the monitoring.
"They will be taken back to our laboratory at work, where they'll be processed and sent to our entomologist in Wellington," Anderson said.
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