Facts About Mosquitoes In New England

Mosquitoes are carriers of disease. In the US, the biggest threats are EEE and more specifically West Nile Virus, but people can still get dengue, yellow fever and even malaria. Each year states collect mosquitoes to monitor for these diseases and alert the public as needed. We’ve all seen the reports in the news every summer.

Standing water is your enemy. Bird Baths, empty plant pots, clogged gutters and downspouts, dog dishes, children’s wading pools, even the bottom of a slide on a kid’s play-set can pool water after rain! Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in pools of water that have little to no current at all since the larvae are poor swimmers and need to surface occasionally to breathe through their little “snorkels”. You’ve got to be vigilant in your yard to disrupt this behavior.

Mosquitoes can fly 1.5 miles for food. This is true, however most mosquitoes have a home range of 100 feet from their birth site. No one ever really wants to leave home do they? Especially if there is plenty of free food around.

Dark colors attract mosquitoes. Yup, not because of the color itself but because the color absorbs more sunlight and makes us warmer and sweat more.

Perfume is bad. If you’re planning an outdoor evening, go easy with the perfume and hair products. Using highly fragrant personal care products will make you a more obvious target than your friends or family.

If it’s warm, low winds and around dusk, use some type of repellent. Anything with DEET is most helpful but remember to apply to clothing and exposed skin but not directly to the face. You can treat a facecloth with the product and then gently pat the facecloth around your face. 

Only female mosquitoes bite. This is true and key to helping manage your mosquito problem. Male mosquitoes only live a few weeks and their only job is to mate and they feed off of plant nectars.

Mosquitoes are actually a species of flies and during the day they will nest under plants, shady grass areas, low trees, bushes and shrubs. Treating these areas with residual materials to kill the adults can interrupt the reproductive cycle in your yard and surrounding areas thus reducing the amount of mosquitoes that are readily available to use you for dinner!

Mosquitoes transmit heartworm. This is why it’s important to protect your pets from mosquitoes. Heartworm if left untreated can be fatal to your pet.