How often do mosquito control programs spray for mosquitoes?
Spraying for problem adult mosquitoes occurs only on an as needed basis. The need for adult mosquito spraying can vary greatly from one year to the next due to environmental conditions, especially rainfall and tides. Most mosquito control programs conduct on-going trapping of mosquitoes to determine what species are present in high numbers. Typically, only a few species in an area are capable of causing disease problems for people. If a species of mosquito starts is increasing in number to the point where it becomes a problem for humans, mosquito control efforts begin. Besides trapping for adult mosquitoes, citizens experiencing high numbers of mosquitoes around their homes often call the mosquito control program to request spraying. Individual spraying of home sites for mosquitoes is not an efficient method of mosquito control. However, the calls are important because they alert mosquito control officials to regional problems when the patterns of calls are elevated. The calls alert of
