Mosquito Control | What You Need to Know Before Spraying for Mosquitoes

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Mosquito Control What You Need to Know Before
Spraying for Mosquitoes
Mosquito on the leaf. Hiring a company to spray
your garden for mosquitoes will also kill other
insects, including bees and butterflies. When the
weather is nice, Mosquito control there is
nothing better than leaving home to enjoy nature
right outside your door. Whether it's grilling
with the family, gardening, or just taking a nap
outside, spending time in your garden or on your
deck or patio is a great way to connect with
nature. Good friends and family, barnyard birds
and butterflies are always welcome, but there's
one guest no one wants to visit while enjoying
time outdoors mosquitoes. These pesky bugs can
turn a nice outdoor gathering into an itchy
nightmare. No one likes mosquito bites, so it's
understandable that you might consider hiring a
mosquito control company to spray your garden
with insecticide. Maybe you already have it.
Unfortunately, despite the marketing claims,
these sprays don't just harm mosquitoes. The
most widely used residential mosquito sprays are
also highly toxic to native pollinators, such as
bees and butterflies, fish and other aquatic
organisms, and may even pose a risk to pets and
humans. Here's what you need to know before you
spray.
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Whats in Mosquito Sprays? Most residential
mosquito control companies use insecticides known
as pyrethrins, which are chemicals derived from
chrysanthemum flowers that are toxic to insects.
or more commonly, pyrethroids, which are
synthetic chemicals that mimic pyrethrins.
Whether natural or synthetic, they are
broad-spectrum insecticides that are highly toxic
to a wide variety of insects, not just
mosquitoes. Companies like Mosquito Joe,
Mosquito Squad, Mosquito Authority and many
others use pyrethrins and pyrethroids in their
standard treatment options. Marketing efforts and
company talking points correctly state that
these pesticides are regulated and approved for
use by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
but that doesn't mean they don't have negative
environmental consequences. We know that the
specific pyrethroids used by these companies,
such as bifenthrin, deltamethrin and permethrin,
are highly toxic to bees, killing them on contact
and for a day or more after treatment, a fact
that the EPA -even recognizes. It is impossible
for companies to spray these broad-spectrum
insecticides in your garden without also killing
other insects they come in contact with, such as
bees, butterflies, caterpillars, ladybugs,
dragonflies and other insects. beneficial in
addition to mosquitoes.
How Sprays Hurt Bees and Other Wildlife Much of
the toxicity testing done by regulators has
focused on honey bees because their pollination
services are vitally important to our
agricultural system and food production.
Researchers have documented the widespread
contamination of honey bee hives with toxic
pyrethroids and found residues of these chemicals
in the pollen that bees bring to the hive, in
beeswax, and in the bees themselves. , at levels
that can be lethal to bees or cause harmful
damage. effects. Even extremely low residual
doses of the chemicals used in mosquito sprays
can disorient bees and prevent them from
returning to the hive. One study found that after
topical application of just 0.009 micrograms of
permethrin per bee, none of the observed bees
returned to the hive at the end of the day due to
disorientation from the treatment. A separate
study by different authors found similar effects
for deltamethrin, which disoriented 91 of bee
flights to the hive after a dose of just 0.0025
micrograms per bee. With declining bee
populations around the world threatening global
food security and nutrition, we cannot afford to
continue killing or harming bees. Much less is
known about the impacts of these sprays on wild
insects and other native wildlife, but mosquito
repellents have been linked to the decline of
native pollinators. It is clear that wild native
bees and other pollinators are also at risk from
mosquito pesticides. The susceptibility of wild
bees to insecticides is directly correlated to
the ratio of surface area to bee volume, which
means that smaller bees, mosquito treatment in
south jersey such as the alkali bees that
pollinate alfalfa, are native to the west and
south- western United States.
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Recently, thousands of monarch butterflies were
found dead in the Fargo-Moorhead area of North
Dakota and Minnesota after an aerial spraying of
a 100 square mile area with permethrin for
mosquito control. Monarch populations have been
dropping at an alarming rate over the past few
decades. The total ecological impact of a
spraying event like this is incalculable, but
surely devastating to an unimaginable number of
wild insects due to the broad-spectrum toxicity
of permethrin. Many insects are beneficial to
humans, serving as pollinators and predators of
pests. Many are beautiful and iconic, like the
monarch butterfly. Insects are also part of the
base of the food web, without which other
wildlife cannot survive. For example, 96 of our
backyard birds depend on insects as the only
source of food for their young. When you spray
your garden for mosquitoes, you also remove this
food source and make it harder for birds to
breed. Nearly 30 of North America's bird
population has disappeared over the past 50
years. Insect populations themselves are also
dropping rapidly. Pesticides are a factor in all
of these wildlife declines. Mosquitoes
themselves play an ecological role, serving as
pollinators and a food source for other wildlife.
Other Impacts of Mosquito Sprays Mosquito sprays
are not only toxic to insects. Runoff can wash
these chemicals from our yards into surface
waters, where they can poison aquatic organisms,
such as fish and shellfish, which are very
sensitive to pyrethroids. Pets exposed to
pyrethroids may exhibit vomiting, diarrhea,
lethargy, and other symptoms. Alternatives to
Spraying Fortunately, it is possible to keep
mosquitoes at bay and reduce the risk of them
biting you, even without spraying pesticides. We
encourage you to avoid broad-spectrum insecticide
sprays because of their deadly effects on
non-target insects and other wildlife, and
instead consider more effective and less harmful
mosquito control strategies. Many companies
offer "organic" spray options marketed as less
hazardous. These sprays are usually made up of
various essential oils of plant origin, but that
does not mean that they are effective or that
they do not have negative impacts. These oils can
still be harmful to bees and other beneficial
insects through direct contact, so they should
not be used on flowering plants or during the
day when bees are active. Further research is
needed to fully understand the impacts of these
alternative aerosols on native insects and other
organisms. In general, the most effective and
safest ways to control mosquitoes in your yard is
to reduce the source and act quickly. Mosquito
larvae need standing water to thrive, so try to
regularly remove or drain sources of standing
water that can accumulate in gutters, corrugated
PVC drain pipes, field equipment, etc. game or
any debris left outside. For water sources that
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cannot be drained, use mosquito baths or other
products containing Bacillus thuringiensis, or
"Bt," bacteria, which targets mosquito larvae and
other biting flies, but is essentially harmless
for other wild animals and humans. Other wild
animals like turtles, copepods, frogs,
dragonflies and birds are voracious predators of
mosquitoes, so enlist their help by cultivating
an animal garden and doing your part to maintain
healthy populations of these wild allies. . If
mosquitoes are still a problem for you, you can
protect yourself from bites by wearing long
sleeves when mosquitoes are present or by using
repellents containing DEET or lemon eucalyptus
oil, mosquito treatment in south jersey a
botanical spray that proved to be just as
effective as the synthetic. repellents. Even a
simple electric fan can help you significantly by
eliminating your odor and making it harder for
mosquitoes to find you. Mosquitoes are annoying,
but we don't have to sacrifice native wildlife
and risk our own health to keep them away. When
you go outside, ditch toxic mosquito spray
services and enjoy the most natural and
effective ways to reduce mosquito bites. You'll
be able to enjoy a pain-free outdoor party and
the bees will thank you. Are you looking for Is
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