Got a weird mosquito story. Never tried this, but have faith in the physician who told me about his experience out on the US east coast.
He said he was on the beach and the cloud of mosquitoes was so thick it looked like a dense smoke. He was being eaten alive and started running in a failed attempt to escape them.
Said he saw some old dude sitting down in the sand with a clear area around him in the swarm with no mosquitoes. He stopped and asked the guy what kind of repellent he was wearing and the guy said nothing.
The guy rubbed both behind both ears and showed the doc his bloody fingers. Told the doc to just sit and let them bite. When you start to bleed behind your ears, they will not bother you any more.
Doc thought the guy a total nut case but sat beside him and let them bite. He said after awhile they stopped biting him. He rubbed behind his ears and there was blood on his fingers.
Cool approach, but the good doctor got West Nile virus during the experiment with permanent nerve damage. So maybe best to still use some DEET unless someone can advise a better agent.
I have been blessed for the past years living on the coast rim. No mosquitoes for some reason until you move a tenth of a mile inland. Paid my dues however with malaria from over there somewhere. You don't want to get malaria. Not much fun.
Fully resonate with Zarrg on the size of these things. We used to have a dedicated vacuum device we called the "Buzzard Master". Couple times a day we would seal up the training center and go on a Rambo mission to take down the population.
John