Mosquito Control

Mosquitoes can be extremely unwanted guests. Their bothersome activities can range from general annoyance when they bite and cause itching, to causing loss of weight and reduced milk production in livestock, to transmitting serious diseases to humans when they feed. Through mosquito control, experts hope to drastically reduce mosquito populations and consequently drastically limit, if not erase completely, these activities.

According to the American Mosquito Control Association, there are a number of ways to manage mosquito populations, and the method (or combination of methods) chosen depends on the situation. Source reduction, biocontrol, larviciding (killing of larvae) or adulticiding (killing of adults) are the main methods used for mosquito control and they can be achieved through habitat modification, biological-control agents and pesticides.

Knowledge of the mosquito breeding cycle has led to understanding how important source reduction can be in controlling these pests. Since the majority of mosquito species breed in standing water, an effective way of reducing the mosquito population would be eliminating all places where water can collect and stand. This means removing unused plastic pools, buckets, and old tires, clearing clogged gutters and fixing faucet leaks, making sure to periodically change bird bath water, and draining and/or filling swampy areas, tree stumps, or perpetual puddles. This kind of source reduction is a natural mosquito control method that is effective and will reduce or outright eliminate the need for insecticides; it can easily be applied around the home.

Another form of natural mosquito control is called biological control, or “biocontrol.” This method involves the use of the mosquito’s natural enemies, such as parasites, pathogens or predators, to manage the pest population. Directly introducing predatory fish into mosquito breeding areas, for example, has shown to have a substantial amount of success in decreasing mosquito population; predatory mosquitoes, crustaceans, nematodes and fungi have also been tried, to a lesser degree of success. Not much concrete evidence exists as of now regarding the effectiveness of using other predators such as birds or bats.

Larvaciding and adulticiding can combine both non-natural and natural ways of controlling mosquito populations. The first uses growth regulators, contact poisons and biological agents to destroy mosquito larvae. The general public is most familiar with the second concept, that of adulticiding. This mosquito control method consists of either ground-based or aerial applications of mosquito control products, such as chemical pesticides. The most common mosquito control product of the past was DDT, but its use has now been banned in most developed countries due to the fact that it has been seen to damage biodiversity.

To kill the mosquito population around your own house, check online or contact your local pest control center. Get as much information as possible on all available methods that can be safely used around the house to kill the damn mosquito population. Whatever product you end up using, however, always make sure you regularly check your home for potential mosquito breeding grounds; eliminating these will make your pest control activities much easier.