What Does A Professional Mosquito Treatment Look Like?

When it comes to low-cost mosquito treatments with high-impact results, American Pest has you covered. Don't let the words "low-cost" fool you. We don't cut corners. We give your property exactly what it needs to resist and control mosquitoes. Here's what you can expect.

Inspection

The backbone of effective pest control is a detailed and thorough inspection. Our trained and experienced technicians know where mosquitoes breed and where mosquitoes hide during the day. Your technician will perform an inspection and identify these areas around your home or business so that trouble areas can be targeted and vulnerabilities can be addressed.

Mist Treatment

Once your technician knows where to treat, it's time to apply a low-grade insecticide to the key areas identified. A mist will be applied to ornamental plants, flower beds, tree canopies near the perimeter, windows that can be reached, rooflines that can be reached, and shaded locations. Every location where mosquitoes rest will be coated with a product that is designed to kill simple organisms such as mosquitoes and ticks. This product does not harm children or pets.

Breeding Sites

Mosquitoes breed in still water. If there are still-water resources on your property, your technician will work to address them. Habitat modifications may be suggested to prevent the accumulation of rainwater or larvicide may be introduced to prevent mosquito development. The goal is to keep mosquitoes from finding a spot to lay their eggs in your yard.

Why is a mist treatment important?

Mosquitoes are moisture pests. If they dry out, they die. So, in the middle of the day, when the sun is high in the sky, they hide in shaded, moist locations. When they do, they are vulnerable to elimination by pest control products.

When your technician applies routine mist treatments during mosquito season, which is typically between April and September, the hiding places in your yard act like giant mosquito traps. About 6 to 7 treatments are needed per year, each remaining effective for 30 to 40 days after the treatment is applied. The results are nothing short of amazing. Not only does this reduce mosquitoes in your yard, it works to reduce mosquitoes in your neighborhood, essentially creating a dead zone that new mosquitoes must encroach into. And, since most mosquitoes don't travel more than a few hundred yard in their entire life, it can take time for new mosquitoes to replace the old ones. While there is no way to guarantee that your property will be a mosquito-free zone, this process can significantly reduce the number of bites you get and it can seriously improve your comfort when you enjoy outdoor activities in your yard.

Why is it important to control breeding sites?

When a female mosquito comes onto your property and lays eggs before resting in a location that has been treated by your pest-control technician, those eggs could develop into a swarm, even though your yard has been treated. A single mosquito can lay more than a hundred eggs at a time. That is over a hundred eggs that will develop into adult mosquitoes right there on your property. And, those new mosquitoes could bite you before they find their way into treated resting places.

Breeding locations can also attract mosquitoes into your yard. Mosquitoes prefer damp, humid areas. The more moisture you have on your grass and in your landscaping, the more interesting your yard will be to mosquitoes.

How Mosquitoes Breed

While mosquitoes are prolific breeders, they don't reproduce overnight--though it can certainly feel like they do when they're hatching by the hundreds in your yard. It takes time for eggs to hatch into larvae, larvae to develop into pupa, and pupa to become adult mosquitoes that take to the air and bite you.

It only takes an inch of water for a mosquito to lay a batch of eggs. Once deposited in an appropriate breeding location, it takes 24 to 72 hours (at the earliest) for those eggs to hatch. Some eggs can sit for years without hatching.

Those eggs hatch into larvae, also called wrigglers, because of the way they wriggle (or writhe) in the water. These wrigglers take several days to develop into pupa, usually between 5 and 10 days. And they stay pupa for 1 to 3 days.

All in all, it can take as little as 7 days for a mosquito to go from egg to adult. But it may be as long as 16 days. During this time, your pest control technician can prevent this development in several ways.

Once a mosquito takes to the air, breeding will take place quickly, usually about a day. So it won't take long for one mosquito to plant over a hundred more in your yard. Some mosquitoes can lay as many as 500 mosquitoes in their first brood. But, with breeding-site control and routine mosquito-misting treatments, you can counter this mosquito production.

Mosquito Control

There is no way to fully control mosquitoes, but an effective mosquito treatment program can have a serious impact on those irritating, and potentially dangerous, insects. And summertime in DC is the most important time to have mosquito control. If you live in DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia, give us a call to learn more about our top-rated, low-cost mosquito control program and request a free estimate.     

Mosquito & Tick Control Program

Mosquitoes and ticks thrive from spring to fall, which is why our Seasonal Mosquito Control plan is guaranteed to eliminate these yard pests during their peak. During the initial service, we will walk your property to identify where mosquitoes and ticks reside and breed and perform treatment to problem areas using a specialized misting system. Ongoing services continue once a month, typically March to October.

• Monthly (7-8 Services Per Season)

• Seasonal Coverage

• Exterior Mosquito Treatment

• Exterior Tick Spraying