Waging the war on mosquitoes

  • Published
  • By Bill Murphy
  • Pest Management
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  You've read the articles on what you can do to fight mosquitoes. This article will explain how MacDill fights mosquitoes on base.

There are three different groups involved in mosquito control on MacDill. Harbor Bay is responsible for the housing areas, ENSYNC/ASTI is the pest management contractor for the remainder of the base, and Hillsborough County Mosquito Control assists both housing and the Pest Management contractor in their efforts.

Controlling mosquitoes comes in two basic activities - larvaciding and adulticiding. Larvaciding is the control of mosquitoes prior to their development into adults, while they still reside in roadside ditches and pools of water. Adulticiding is controlling adult mosquitoes, usually as they are flying.

If you have seen a truck spraying liquids into roadside ditches or pooled water, then you have witnessed larvaciding. Larvaciding is one of the most effective means of control as this kills many insects with a relatively small amount of pesticide. Hillsborough County applies larvacide in the housing area, as well as by helicopter in remote areas.

Adulticiding is usually accomplished by fogging from a truck -mounted, ultra-low- volume fogger. There are many restrictions on fogging, including restrictions on hours of operation, weather and wind conditions, licensing by the state, and specific instructions on the label. The product is one used by mosquito control districts across the country and has an excellent record for effectiveness and safety. Copies of the label and Material Safety Data Sheets are available on request. You may have encountered the truck on base, in the early morning hours, with yellow lights flashing and the fogger running in the back. Although there is no prohibition from fogging in occupied areas, we make every attempt to be courteous and avoid fogging when personnel are in the area. We control the flow of chemical, allowing the unit to continue to run, but interrupting the flow when needed.

On occasion Hillsborough County Mosquito Control will dispense adulticide over parts of MacDill from a helicopter.

State law sets specific standards for when this application is to be performed and it's only when there are drastic increases in the mosquito population, or when there are disease vectors in the area.