Mosquitoes are not just pesky insects in Columbia, SC, they can also spread several different diseases including Dengue, Malaria, Zika, West Nile Virus, and Encephalitis, just to mention a few. Malaria and Zika are particularly dangerous to kids under 5 and pregnant women because they can lead to adverse birth defects or even miscarriage. The best way to keep mosquitoes away from you and your family is by hiring a pest control company to exterminate around your home.
Mosquito Control Methods & Products
What’s a Mosquito? Mosquitoes belong to the larger family of common flies, implying they have a single pair of wings and shiny scaled bodies. An adult can grow up to 9 mm in size and feeds on tree saps, nectar, fruit juice, and suck blood. Where do they live? If left open, windows and doors can become the main entry points for mosquitoes. They often get nestled in dark spots in your home. You can also find them in your backyard behind the bushes, tall grasses, or thick vegetation. How Do They Breed? Female adult mosquitoes are notorious for feeding on blood, which they need to nourish their eggs. Once hatched, the eggs become larvae which are in stagnant water and feed on small water organisms.
Methods For Controlling Mosquitoes
There are plenty of techniques that have proven quite effective against mosquitoes, but the following are the most common ones:
- Drain Stagnant Water: This is an indispensable way of killing mosquitoes at their larval stage. You must drain unnecessary water pools, ruts, buckets, clogged gutters, plant bow saucers, and much more.
- Treat Stagnant Water: More importantly, if you cannot drain stagnant water in areas like landscape pond, plant holders, and yard ornaments, you need to apply mosquito growth regulators that stop their spread and reproduction.
- Personal Protection: Consider sleeping under a treated net, use mosquito repellent, and paint your walls with repellent paint
- Professional Treatment: Reach out to a professional insect and pest control company to take care of the problem.
- Clear Tall Grass & Thick Vegetation: Most adult mosquitoes rest behind grass, trees, bushes, and other thick/wet vegetation. It’s important to cut down grass below 5 inches and clear any bushes to avoid the spread of mosquitoes.
Mosquito Control Products
There’s a wide variety of mosquito control products available for individual and commercial use. Larvicides: these are products designed specifically to be applied directly to breeding areas so they can kill larvae. These include methoprene, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), Methoprene, Pyriproxyfen, and other EPA-approved larvicides. Adulticides: these are products used in spraying or fogging to kill adult mosquitoes. They range from Pyrethrins to Citronella. Synergists: these are often used to make adulticides and other insecticides more effective against mosquitoes.