Mosquito control begins for 2016

With increased moisture this winter and spring, there is room for more small stagnant ponds that can hold water for mosquito larva to grow to adult mosquitoes.

The Adams County Mosquito Control District will begin its surveillance for mosquito larva the week of March 16.

They are asking citizens to check around their homes and buildings for containers that can hold water and dump the water out.

It does not have to be deep, just a quarter of an inch is enough to support mosquito larva.

As the weather warms up there will be some adult mosquitoes that will come out of hibernation that have over wintered. It usually takes two or three days of wind and these go away.

There are also other insects that will fly in columns and land on the side of warm buildings. These are not mosquitoes.

Spring is a good time to find mosquito larva and stop them from becoming adults.

The spring weather is critical for dealing with adult mosquitoes. The conditions have to be just right to spray or it will not be effective.

The products the district is using this year are the same as they have used for the last several years.

They are BTI, Methoprene and spinosad for larva control, light petroleum oil for the pupa stage and a synthetic permethrin for adult control.

If anyone has any questions about the products used, they can call the Mosquito Control District Office at 509-488-2661 or send and email to [email protected].

Residents are asked to leave their name and number for the call to be returned.

For reader’s information, the two Aedes mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus are presently not found in the state of Washington.

More information will be given to protect the public from mosquitoes as the summer progresses.