Effective mosquito control is an ongoing, extensive process that involves planning and monitoring to reduce and eliminate mosquito populations on your property. The best mosquito control programs combine repellants with insecticides and larvicides for the elimination of adult and developing mosquitos. Over 2,500 types of mosquitos exist throughout the world, and development occurs in a four-stage life cycle. During the active season, a female can live for over a month and alternately seek meals and sites fit to lay eggs.
Begin by inspecting to Identify potential breeding sites on your property, and start mosquito control at the source. Ditches, creeks, ponds, pools, sewers and other standing water sources are the preferred sites sought by the females to lay their eggs. If feasible, drain and clear out the standing water, even in cases of seemingly small water collection, it can still be a breeding site. Traditional mosquito control programs will only address the adult population, which leaves the developing eggs and larvae undisrupted for future re-infestations. A larvicide will stop the reproductive process. Initial and ongoing monitoring is another critical element of mosquito control, as populations can quickly replenish, and mosquitos travel up to a mile to feed and breed. Determine the extensiveness of an infestation by using light traps, dip counts and landing counts.