Integrated Mosquito Management Program

How do we Control Mosquitoes?

Morrow BioScience Ltd. uses an integrated pest management approach to controlling mosquitoes. The best time during the mosquito lifecycle to control them is when they are larvae. For this reason, most of the efforts are placed on finding larval development sites and treating the larva when they are found. Mapping and monitoring the sites assists in the continued improvement of information.

Mapping and Monitoring

For mosquito control to be effective from year to year the development sites must be mapped and entered into the database for reference.

During the fall and spring, technicians find new potential development sites to be monitored during the summer. When new sites are found, they are mapped using the GPS (Global Positioning System) and added to the database. During the spring and summer, known development sites are monitored by technicians for larvae. Most sites are checked at least once every week, more frequently as the weather warms. If sufficient larvae are found in the development sites, they are then treated using larvicides. If no larvae are found in the development sites, no treatment occurs and the sites are checked again within a week.

If there are any areas near your home which contain water (but cannot be mechanically controlled) they can be reported at any time by a call to your municipality (if they have a control program in place). They will send someone out to the area that will assess the sites to determine if they require further monitoring.

Larviciding

The use of larvicides such as B.t.i. has proven to be the most effective in decreasing mosquito populations. Larvicides are relatively environmentally friendly, target-specific, and very effective in killing larvae. They can be applied through the use of helicopters, boats, or by hand.
Whenever possible, our technicians hike into the mosquito development sites and apply the larvicide by hand. This is very effective for smaller channels, but not in larger areas when the water is high. Boats are used to access and treat areas when the water is too high.

Finally, a helicopter is used to treat large development sites that are inaccessible or too large to treat by hand. This includes islands on the river as well as other large sites that become flooded when the river gets above a certain height.

Typical mosquito lifecycle.