Reading this means that we don’t have to tell you the health risks mosquitoes pose and how annoying they are, you already know. Skeeters In the summer and no matter how much the city fogs it can feel like there is no end to the swarms. A lot of people don’t realize that you can hire pest control services to reduce the number of mosquitoes in your yard each summer. There is quite a few techniques that we can use to make your barbecues, patio lounging, and outdoor fun a lot more pleasant.
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Their behavior includes seeking out warm-blooded hosts by detecting body heat and carbon dioxide, and laying their eggs in stagnant water, where larvae develop.
There’s a million reasons to exterminate mosquitoes near you; the itching alone is reason enough. You probably remember the West Nile scare we had a few years ago; in fact, you probably know someone who got affected by the West Nile flu, with symptoms that lasted for weeks; a lot of folks have reported that it was the worst flu they ever had. The West Nile virus is only one of hundreds of different diseases mosquitoes can carry; they’re not just annoying, they’re dangerous. They are, in fact, the most deadly animal in the world, killing more humans than even humans do according to statistics provided by Bill Gates; humans kill under 500000 people each year, while mosquitoes kill over 750 000 through the spread of diseases.
Not all mosquitoes bite; in fact, the primary diet for both male and female mosquitoes is nectar and plant juices. Males never bite, but females need blood in order to lay eggs, or to improve the egg laying process. That means whenever you get bit by a mosquito, it’s planning to lay some eggs, which gives you an idea of how out of control the mosquito population can get; you’ve probably fed thousands of mosquito moms with your own blood. All the more reason to use advanced pest control techniques to keep mosquitoes away from your home; the more they feast, the more children they have.
And how they feast! Female mosquitoes basically have two digestive systems, one for the sugars they use for energy, and one for the protein they get from your blood to lay their eggs. The energy from sugars does not all sit in their stomach, because this would limit their ability to drink blood, and doing so is risky, because you might slap them. That means when they see a source of blood, they drink as much as possible; this is an exhausting process, so they use the stored sugars to keep on sucking. Mosquito saliva has a lot of chemicals that turn the bugs into something like a horror-story vampire; anticoagulants so your blood will keep flowing into them, and vasodilators so your blood flows more quickly. This same saliva is the stuff that transmits all of the terrible diseases; in short, mosquito saliva is terrifying.
Mosquitoes love warmth; their eggs grow optimally in temperatures around 22-29 degrees Celsius. This might make you wonder how mosquitoes can possibly survive our freezing cold winters; the answer lies in these very same eggs. While the eggs develop quickly in our summer weather, they are in a state of stasis during the winter months, and the cold does not kill them. Additionally, mosquito eggs are laid in water; that means the temperature of the eggs will rarely be as cold as the surrounding temperatures, with the water and ice acting as an insulator against the chilly temperatures.
Stagnant water, then, is the key for breeding mosquitoes. The more stagnant water available, the greater the number of mosquitoes. The lifecycle of the mosquito happens in 4 stages, the first three being almost entirely aquatic: the egg, larval and pupal stage all occur within stagnant, shallow water, with only the adult stage existing above water. That’s why most mosquito prevention strategies involve control of the eggs and larva; it’s easier to tackle the early stages located in water than it is to handle the swarms in the air.
Our pest control strategy starts at the early stages. We’ll thoroughly inspect your yard for any sources of stagnant water in order eliminate potential breeding grounds; sources that cannot be eliminated may be handled with a variety of larvicides or other effective insecticides that don’t affect the adult population. Using these tools on stagnant water is more effective for a variety of reasons; tackling the weaker, pre-adult forms is generally more effective, and not having to spray the whole area with insecticides leaves less chance of unintended harms to non-mosquito insect populations. Many of the insecticides used are not general use, and thus directly target mosquito eggs, instead of any insect that uses the water.
