Mosquito Prevention, Protection, & Control
The Hard Facts

About
Disclaimer
 

Mosquitoes got you itching? Browse around here for some remedies. We have reviews of different mosquito traps and an educational resource about mosquitoes, and what you can do to avoid being bitten.

Mosquito Prevention, Protection, & Control
The Hard Facts: What Works and What Doesn't

There is a wide array of products on the market designed to either repel or kill
mosquitoes. Unfortunately, a vast the majority of products and devices on the market
do not work. There are a number of mosquito control products that do work as well
as a number of simple things you can do around your home to reduce the mosquito
population. The most important thing to remember is the most effective mosquito
control program will incorporate a number of strategies, including an effective
trapping system, personal repellent, and a common sense approach to reducing mosquito
breeding and resting opportunities on your property.

Experts recommend a three-step approach to home and back yard mosquito control:

Step 1: Eliminate Mosquito Breeding and Resting Areas on Your Property

Eliminate mosquito breeding and resting areas on your property, encourage your neighbors
and nearby property owners to do the same. Eliminate pools of stagnant or standing
water, by emptying old containers that collect rainwater, including any old tires
too on your property, fill in any depressions that can fill with water when it rains,
remove all debris from rain gutters, and ensure that they remain unclogged. You
will be surprised how many breeding grounds there are in the average yard. For
larger pools of stagnant water, such as ponds, you can try an environmentally friendly
biological larvicide. Keep all shrubs, grass well-maintained, and cut short. If
left unattended, these areas can provide good resting areas for mosquitoes during
the day. Put goldfish in garden ponds and install a fountain. The goldfish will
eat the mosquito larva and fountains keep water moving. Remember, mosquitoes like
stagnant water. You will never be able to remove all mosquitoes from your property
with these techniques. Mosquitoes can travel over distance and will breed and rest
on adjacent properties, but by practicing these simple and relative inexpensive
approaches, you can reduce the numbers of mosquitoes on your property.

Step 2: Install a Quality Mosquito Trap
Review traps to see what others are saying about traps

Step 3: Use Repellent Sparingly
Use a quality repellent containing deet to repel any remaining mosquitoes, but use
very sparingly and only to clothing (not bare skin) if possible. Be extremely cautious
using on children! Reduce the amount of exposed skin by wearing light-weight clothes
covering your arms and legs. Clothes that blend in with your surroundings will
attract fewer mosquitoes than clothing with a high contrast to your background.


Mosquito control products generally fall into three main categories:

Repellents
Insecticides
Traps and Zappers

Repellents:

Repellents come in many forms including chemical sprays, natural lotions, and electronic
devices. The best known repellent is deet (N, N diethyl-m-toluamide). Deet has
been studies extensively by the scientific community. There is little doubt that
Deet does work, especially in higher concentrations. It is the most effective and
long-lasting repellent commercially available. Unfortunately, health concerns have
been raised by many researchers about deet being a chemical. These concerns have
prompted many to recommend not to use deet with a concentration of more than 10%
on children, and that deet should always sparingly applied to exposed skin. In
a race to develop a natural alternative to deet, many manufacturers have turned
to essential plant oils and other substances. Unfortunately, only limited success
has been achieved. Of those products that do offer some mosquito repellence, generally
have a short efficiency period. Citronella is probably one of the best-known natural
repellents. Most who have used Citronella agree that its effectiveness is quite
limited. Electronic and ultrasonic devices have also proven largely ineffective.

Insecticides:

Insecticides are growing increasingly unpopular due to well-founded concerns over
their safety. Many municipalities have banned their use because of new research
that suggests many popular insecticides may cause cancer, birth defects, and developmental
problems in children. Insecticides also kill beneficial insects and may contaminated
soils and water supplies for long periods. Application of insecticides on your
property will do little to ensure a mosquito bite free yard. Mosquitoes will migrate
to your property from neighboring land in search of their next meal. We do not
recommend the use of any insecticides due to the potential health risks to your
family, pets, and wildlife (birds, beneficial insects, fish, etc.).

Many public mosquito control programs have opted to use biological larvicides instead
of traditional insecticides. Larvicides exclusively target the mosquito larva before
they hatch into biting mosquitoes without harming other creatures or leaving a toxic
residue. The downside of larvicides is that they again do not prevent migrating
mosquitoes from reaching your yard after hatching on adjacent properties. Larvicides
that can be purchased in tablet or pellet form to be applied to any pools of stagnant
or standing water on your property to prevent mosquito breeding.

Traps and Zappers:

The same mosquito trapping technology used by research scientists is now available
for home use. There are a wide variety of traps and zappers available on the market,
with equally varying effectiveness. Zappers are less effective and result in the
killing of too many beneficial insects. The greatest benefit of a mosquito trap,
however, is that it will intercept mosquitoes as they move from neighboring properties
to yours in search of a blood meal. As the trap captures more and more mosquitoes,
the breeding population in and around your property will collapse, reducing the
number of future mosquitoes in the area.