Saturday, April 29, 2017

Mosquito Season And Control In South Florida

Mosquito Treatment and Control in Palm Beach, Broward and Martin Counties

It is getting hotter in Florida and summer is coming. The heat is back, the tourists are back and the insects are back. In Florida with our mild winters it sometimes seems the pests never really go away. At least, not for long. And of all the critters which bug us, the most dreaded just might be those little bloodsuckers the South Florida mosquitoes.

There are 3,500 named species of mosquito, of which only a couple of hundred bite or bother humans. They live on almost every continent and habitat. More than 150 species of mosquito may call your North American backyard home and all are true flies, spending most of their time feeding on plant nectar. Only the females supplement this diet with the blood of animals or birds, which provides the protein necessary for egg maturation.

Adult females lay eggs on the surface of stagnant water and 4 to 14 days later, the eggs hatch into wriggling larvae that begin to feed on water-dwelling microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, and algae. It is when they grow to adulthood that they begin to feed on us...the females, anyway.

Those female bites can be bad news. When a female mosquito pierces the skin with her proboscis (mouth parts), she injects a small amount of saliva into the wound before drawing blood. Her saliva makes penetration easier and prevents the blood from clotting in the narrow channel of her food canal. The itchy welts that appear after the mosquito leaves is not a reaction to the wound, but an allergic reaction to the saliva injected to prevent clotting. In most cases, the itching sensation and swellings subside within several hours. Some people are highly sensitive and symptoms persist for several days.

The Palm Beach Daily News recently reported that "State and federal officials said in December that Zika no longer was being actively transmitted in Florida. But public health officials say Zika is likely to return with summer rains." And with another very hot summer almost upon us it is prime time for those feeding and breeding mosquitoes. The Sun-Sentinel eairler this month noted that U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch was quoted "It’s only a matter of time before Florida hits the warm, wet months that will reinvigorate Zika-carrying mosquito populations and put our communities at greater risk.”

Tired of being a snack? A variety of specially-formulated insect repellents are available for sale at camping or sporting goods stores. Apply insect repellent to uncovered skin surfaces when outdoors, especially during the day. When using sunscreen, apply it before insect repellent. As for ridding yourself of mosquitoes, better call in the pros.

Zimmerman Tree Service provides a yard misting mosquito control and treatment designed to reduce the mosquito population around the homeowner’s yard through a two phase attack. The first being an insecticide providing immediate and residual control of mosquitoes and the second is an insect growth regulator which interrupts the reproduction cycle of mosquitoes.