Purdue university
Cooperative Extension Service
Department of Entomology
Mimeo E-26
June 1964
Community
MOSQUITO CONTROL
A necessary prerequisite to any community mosquito control program is a survey (1) to determine the species of mosquitoes causing trouble and (2) to locate their breeding places. Such a survey is the basis for determining how much material, labor and money is needed to complete the program. Those qualified to conduct this type of survey are seldom available in smaller cities, but professional services can be obtained.
WHERE DO MOSQUITOES COME FROM?
Mosquitoes always develop in water, but the type of breeding place varies with species of mosquito. Common breeding places are flood waters, woodland pools and slowly moving streams and ditches. Mosquitoes breed in marshes, ponds and around the edges of lakes. They may also develop in tree cavities, rain barrels, fishponds, bird baths, old tires, tin cans, catch basins -- in other words, any container that holds water.
HOW DO MOSQUITOES DEVELOP?
Mosquitoes lay eggs on the surface of water or in low places where water is likely to accumulate. The eggs may hatch in less than 3 days or when flooding occurs. The larvae, commonly called "wiggle-tails", mature in 7 to 10 days and change into a pupa or "tumbler" stage. Two or 3 days later, adult mosquitoes emerge. Each female then lays from 100 to 400 or more eggs. The entire life cycle may be completed in as few as 10 days.
WHAT STEPS CAN THE COMMUNITY TAKE?
1.	Conduct a survey to determine species involved and breeding sites.
2.	Ditch and clean stagnant streams to insure a continuous flow of water and to eliminate grassy stream borders.
3.	Drain or fill back-water pools and swamps where stagnant water accumulates.
4.	Remove vegetation and debris from along the shores of lakes and ponds, and stock the water with top-feeding minnows belonging to the genus Gambusia.
5.	In February or early March, apply a "pre-emergence" larval treatment to known mosquito breeding grounds that normally flood in early spring. Use 1/2 pound actual DDT OR 0.1 pound dieldrin per acre in granular form. Do not use after March.
6.	During the mosquito season, treat stagnant water areas that cannot be drained or filled with a larvacide (Table 1). Repeat as needed, probably three or four times each season.
7.	Use fog machines or mist blowers to destroy adult mosquitoes (Tables 2 and 3). Fogs and mists kill only those mosquitoes actually hit by the chemical. Therefore, treatment should be used in conjunction with a well planned program of larval control.
Fog and mist applications are best made in the evening when mosquitoes are active and when atmospheric conditions are such that the fog will remain near the ground. Do not fog routinely, only when adult mosquitoes are troublesome.
8.	Treat catch basins to control larvae and/or adult mosquitoes. For both larvae and adults, spray catch basins as needed with 1% fenthion (Baytex or Entex). For larvae only, treat each basin as needed with one teaspoonful of either 1% Baytex or 5% DDT granules. For adults primarily, suspend dichlorvos (DDVP) strips in the basins. One 10-inch strip hung 10 inches above the water