Can Mosquitoes survive over winter?
Mosquito species can live anywhere from two weeks to two months, but adults of certain species can survive over the winter. These are typically the first mosquitoes active in the spring. Other species overwinter as eggs and can be dormant for as many as three years.
What is adulticiding?
Ada County Mosquito Abatement District workers set about 50 traps throughout the county to trap mosquitoes and test them for the presence of the West Nile virus. When high numbers of mosquitoes are trapped in a location, or in the case West Nile virus is detected in a specific trap, crews are dispatched to the area with ground fogging trucks. The foggers disperse a fine mist of pesticides to kill flying adult mosquitoes to control populations and eliminate those carrying West Nile.
Are the chemicals you use to larvicide dangerous?
The chemicals used for larvicide applications specifically target the larvae or pupae stages of mosquitos, and do not pose a risk for aquatic species or mammals.
Will your chemicals hurt my fish?
Larvicide chemicals do not affect fish, but our adulticide chemicals do so we are careful not to spray within 100 feet of known bodies of water containing fish.
What do I do if I have a fish pond?
If you have a fish pond, you can contact us so that we can put it on our map and we won’t treat within 100 feet of your pond.
Will your fogging kill my bees?
Only if the bees are out flying, but we typically fog after dusk and into the evenings after bees have already returned to the hive.
What do I do if I have bee hives?
Contact us and we can put your beehive locations in our mapping program to avoid the immediate area as a safety precaution.
Does your fogging hurt beneficial insects?
No, we use an ultra-low volume fogger that releases micron-sized droplets in the evenings. These droplets are so small that one drop can kill a mosquito, but does not have a fatal effect on larger insects like dragonflies, butterflies or moths.
Does it cost me anything at time of service?
No, we do not charge a service fee. All activities within the mosquito abatement district are covered in your property taxes if you live within the mosquito district.
What is larviciding?
Ada County strives to control mosquitoes before or immediately after eggs hatch and the mosquito is in the larva stage. Our larviciding crews monitor nearly 68,000 acres of water at 2,766 specific sites throughout Ada County, and crews will treat these water bodies with bio-agents or chemicals if they find mosquito larva. Larviciding chemicals are not harmful to fish, animals or other insects, and work to prevent the larva from growing into flying adults. Larviciding can reduce the overall pesticide usage in Ada County’s integrated control program (monitoring for mosquitoes, larviciding and adulticiding). Killing mosquito larvae before they emerge as adults reduces or eliminates the need for ground or aerial application of pesticides to kill adult mosquitoes in the event of critical WNv levels.
Will you fog my property every night?
No, that is too often according to the insecticide label. Under normal conditions, the maximum frequency of spraying the same area is twice per week, unless West Nile virus has been confirmed within that area via our surveillance. This is to prevent the mosquitoes from building a resistance to our fogging insecticide.
What is Dibrom and aerial applications
Dibrom, is an organophosphate insecticide with the active ingredient Naled. This product have been registered for use in the United States by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. When applied in accordance with the label, the products can be used to kill mosquitoes without posing unreasonable risks to human health or the environment.