By Michael Riles, Entomologist for Beach Mosquito Control District
Beach Mosquito Control District (BMCD) conducts a series of surveillance events each week to provide information for mosquito control efforts. We conduct surveillance from an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) philosophy where we survey habitats for indicators of activity from mosquitoes or the arboviruses some species are known to transmit, such as West Nile virus (WNV). BMCD has 16 trapping sites that have been in use since 1998 and are sampled for adult mosquito populations using Center for Disease Control (CDC) motorized light traps. These CDC light traps are baited with carbon dioxide gas which attracts mosquitoes, as well as light, and additional scented lures to entice the mosquitoes to visit the trap where they are sucked through a fan and into a catch net. We also monitor arboviruses such as WNV using CDC gravid traps. These traps are specific to the species they collect, Culex, mosquitoes that are known to transmit the virus. These traps give us indicators of the presence of these species and then we can test these mosquitoes for the actual virus.
In addition to testing the mosquitoes, we have sentinel chickens at three sites here in the district. These sites have been surveyed since 1998, and the chickens are tested once per week by the Florida Department of Health. The sentinel chickens act as a guard against receiving human transmission; the presence of virus in a test from a chicken gives the district valuable information on the area where we need to focus on controlling mosquitoes.
We also survey day-time biting mosquitoes that are associated with human behavior in and around your home. We have weekly surveys from May-October that look for the mosquito Aedes albopictus, the Asian Tiger Mosquito (ATM). This pestiferous mosquito is generally the culprit from most of our homeowner service requests that we perform as a service to all residents in the district.
This is a great segway into our next round of surveillance: service requests! We depend on additional information from you, the homeowner concerning what is occurring in and around your specific area for mosquito problems you may be having. These requests give the district a “real-time” sense of what is occurring in your area. We appreciate all calls to the district as these calls help us in our job of controlling mosquitoes. Call us any time: (850) 233-5030 or visit our website www.pcbeachmosquito.org where you can submit a service request online.
