Larger scale mosquito control.

18 comments

1. Good luck. We put mosquito coils outside, keep the screen doors closed, and use the vaporizers inside when they get into the house but they’re so prevalent I don’t think there’s any really effective way to get them under control. The kind of spraying you’re thinking about won’t be effective because you can’t spray outside of your own property and even that might alarm the neighbors when they see you using your sprayer.

2. Its kind of a fool’s errand since as soon as you kill some, more appear (from neighbors, sewers, etc).

   One thing we did was get a big outdoor fishbowl and stock it with medaka (minnows). The mosquitos lay their larvae in the water, then the medaka eat them before they grow into full mosquitos.

   Its hard to say how well it worked. We still had mosquitos, so its not a solution that will eliminate them completely, but probably less than we otherwise would.

   Its a bit of a pain though, you have to feed them, clean the bowl regularly, deal with them breeding, etc. Kind of fun as a side hobby, but not a maintenance-free mosquito solution if that is what you are looking for.

3. Although I’m sympathetic to your mosquito problem, I wouldn’t be jazzed to see my neighbor spraying insecticides in the neighborhood.

   What exactly is annoying? Do you spend time outdoors in the evenings, when mosquitos are most active? Mosquitoes are weak fliers, so something as simple as an oscillating fan blowing on you while you’re outside is enough to keep mosquitoes away effectively.

4. I hear sprays can backfire if you inadvertently kill insects that eat mosquitos. It’s a very locale-specific solution and you have to be really careful.

5. No point trying to kill them. Focus on ways to make your space less comfortable for them. There are often studies on new deterrents to mosquitoes. I’d look up the latest literature and see what would be feasible for you.

6. I’m not sure how big your yard is, but you could buy/build a bat house and set it up in a tree or on a building. It can take a year or so to attract them. [Here’s an informative site.](https://www.mass.gov/guides/bat-houses)

7. We’ve got one of those old houses next to us with an overgrown jungle going on in their yard where hordes of mosquitoes come from. Best we can do it take a bath in mosquito repellant before heading out and retrieving our bikes.

   I purchased a bug zapper for indoor use and leave it running at night just in case some make it into our home. Would be interested in any other tips if mosquitoes get inside the house.

8. We live near a rice field and always get mosquitos, my kids react quite badly to them so usually soak em with repellent before going outside. We use a katorisenko too, i quite like the smell and that keeps mosquitos away. The worst is when your sleeping at night and you can hear that high pitched buzzing noise lol.

9. I find it adorable that you believe you can get rid of mosquitos by killing them

10. DO NOT SPRAY. It is pointless because you are much more likely to kill the predators that eat the mosquitoes than you are to kill the mosquitoes themselves.

    Not to mention it’s bad for your own health and for the environment.

    Mosquitoes breed in any standing water. A *tiny amount* is enough, like as much as a small cup. Once adults, they like to stay out of the sun, often hanging from the undersides of large leaves on weeds relatively close to the ground.

    Pull up *all* the weeds and other small plants and just leave the larger trees. Do this and you effectively remove them from the immediate vicinity of your yard.

    And get a mosquito trap of some kind, or several and leave them out.

    Also, when you’re in the yard in the morning or evening/night time, run an industrial fan to simply blow the mosquitoes away from you. That’s the most effective method I’ve found.

11. We use screen doors and I keep telling my kids to close the door to not let them in. It works but not perfectly. Indoors we use fans, mosquito killer evaporating thingie (it works and hasn’t killed us yet). I do lots of outdoor work- for that I soak myself with any deet containing deterrent, my kids use a milder version. We also use the Inaka style mosquito coil carrier so you have a coil around you when working outside. In combination with spray it works.

    We also try to pant some herbs they don’t like. I don’t remember at the moment which ones they are.

    In any case – while I can understand your desire to more effective combat the mosquitoes I wouldn’t recommend larger scale chemical pesticides as I’m afraid it has too many unwanted side effects. But I’m also a boomer hippie so there’s that.

12. Mosquitos breed in stagnant water. As much as possible, remove any pots or any place where water can accumulate.

    Killing adult mosquitos is a fool’s errand; all your efforts must focus on preventing them from breeding. That may include talking to your neighbours… But bring okashi if you are going to annoy them with this.

13. My grandma used to tell me lavender repels mosquitos. Whether it’s a fairytale or the truth is up for you to try

14. Thermacells work incredibly well

15. Co2 attractors have worked wonderfully, but you have to be careful where to use them.

    One maker: https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/store/mosquito-magnet-trap

16. >How far can mosquitoes fly? Mosquito species preferring to breed around the house, like the Asian Tiger Mosquito, have limited flight ranges of about 300 feet. Most species have flight ranges of **1-3 miles**.

    So, good luck spraying, I guess?

    Talking to your town/ward and joining the neighbourhood mosquito patrol may be more effective — that way you may educate your neighbours and/or uncover and fix potted plants or plastic buckets or clogged drains or used car tyres or wherever they breed.

17. You have to fight them.

    And I don’t mean with chemical weapons, but literally stripped to the waist, Queensbury Rules.

    They’ll soon learn to avoid your place once you’ve knocked the proboscides off of a few hundred of their gormless mugs.

18. The pig