By Kyle Pridgen with Cindy Mulla
Whether you are a resident or visitor to Panama City Beach, home of the most beautiful beaches, you still might unexpectedly encounter a mosquito or two searching for the perfect location to start their family. Mosquitoes only need a small amount of water to begin their life cycle. Outdoor containers that can hold standing water are perfect for the job. Something in your yard or business location, such as buckets, tires, drums, barrels, and pots are perfect breeding grounds for these pests. Also, please do not litter because unwanted trash can create mosquito breeding locations. Even a small bottle cap thrown onto the ground can breed larvae.
As an experienced Beach Mosquito Control District technician for over thirteen years, I have concluded that mosquitoes have been very crafty and resourceful, utilizing many unusual types of container habitats to successfully breed and become flying, hungry adult mosquitoes. Some examples of the most unusual places I found were an abandoned open septic tank, unmaintained swimming pools/hot tubs, fountains, bottle caps, gutters, shipping containers, construction dumpsters and even innocent birdbaths.
The number one container breeding mosquito culprit is the Aedes albopictus, also known as “The Asian Tiger Mosquito” due to its aggressive tiger-like biting behavior. This mosquito is also a vector for transmitting diseases such as Chikungunya, Dengue, Cat, and Dog Heartworm, and Zika Virus. This type of mosquito is mostly found on the home front and is active during daylight hours. If you encounter mosquito bites during the day, this could be the culprit.
Let’s talk about why it’s important to walk your grounds and avoid these annoying bites. All mosquito diseases come with their own side effects and stress. Although we cannot eliminate all mosquitoes, our goal is to control them so that you can confidently reclaim and enjoy the outdoors.
Take the time to walk around your property once a week. Locating containers that are breeding mosquitoes and dumping them out will assist by breaking their life cycle. After hatching from an egg, the mosquito larvae can become an adult in just seven to ten days. If we eliminate these breeding sites, the larvae will not become adult mosquitoes.
Beach Mosquito Control District cannot always be in your backyard, so we rely on you, the public, to contact us if you have any mosquito issues that you are unable to control. Placing a service request is important and easy to do. To make a service request, call (850) 233-5030 or visit our website at www.pcbeachmosquito.org .
