How Mosquito Control Works

There are a lot of misconceptions about mosquitoes. One of the biggest misconceptions is that mosquitoes are an inevitable part of life. But when it comes to mosquitoes in your backyard, they aren't as inevitable as you may think. There is a way to turn a mosquito-infested yard into a no fly zone. Let's take a look how mosquito control works, but more importantly, why it works.

Breeding Site Reduction

When you have an educated professional treat your yard, the first thing they're going to do is analyze your property for breeding sites. These are areas of still or standing water that allows mosquitoes to breed.

Some of these sites can be addressed by simply removing them. If you have objects in your yard that capture water, storing them away will fix the problem. Some sites will require maintenance or repair to be fixed, like leaking spigots, obstructed gutters, and surfaces that catch rainwater. If you have any breeding sites that cannot be removed or fixed, it is possible to address these with larvicides that destroy mosquito eggs.

By itself, this process can have an impact on mosquito populations on your property. But it does nothing to address the mosquitoes that will come into your yard to bite you.

Targeted Treatments

Mosquitoes are moisture pests. If they stay in the sun too long, they die. For this reason, they will hide in shaded areas during the day. This may be bushes, shrubs, trees, and other foliage, or it may be underneath your deck, porch, or patio. Any shaded place will do. These locations are where targeted treatments are applied.

Here are a few reasons why targeted treatments can have a dramatic impact on mosquito populations:

• One female mosquito can produce over 100 eggs every three days, without mating again. If that female mosquito is destroyed, those eggs will not be laid. It is a proven fact that dead mosquitoes don't lay eggs.
• When a mosquito comes into your yard and hides in a bush that has been treated, there is a good chance it will die. When it dies, it does not lay eggs in your yard or in your neighbor's yard. The effects of spray treatments are not isolated to only your property. They affect the entire area.
• Mosquitoes aren't the best flyers. That is why you can usually keep them away with a good breeze. For this reason, a typical mosquito will not travel more than 500 yards in its entire life. If you reduce mosquitoes in your area, it will take time for new mosquitoes to encroach and repopulate, as a general rule. It is important to understand that homes that are near wetlands, marshes, swamps, and other mosquito breeding grounds are harder to keep mosquito-free. But treatment still has an impact, no matter where it is done.

There is no better way to reduce mosquitoes than to actively target them where they hide. A yard that has no breeding sites can still have mosquitoes come in from other yards and the surrounding areas. Treatments attack the problem at a systemic level, reducing the female mosquitoes that are responsible for starting the cycle.