Mosquitoes

Home Mosquito Control

 

Color: Mosquito color combinations include brown, gray, black, white and silver.

Characteristics: Mosquito color patterns are due to the wings, body and legs being covered with scales.

Size: Adult mosquitoes are about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch long.

Potentially Dangerous: Yes

Bites & Stings

Blood Sucking

Difficult to Eradicate

Health Hazard

Nuisance Pest

Illness Spreading

What Do Mosquitoes Look Like?

Adult mosquitoes range in length from ¼ – 3/8th of an inch; and have a narrow oval shaped body. They are mostly gray in color with white, silver, green or iridescent blue scales, they have white stripes across their abdomen. Mosquitoes have distinctive long legs and a long proboscis (nose) that the females use to draw blood out of people and pets.

Why Do I Have A Mosquito Problem?

Mosquitoes have adapted to almost every kind of aquatic situation, including permanent ponds and marshes, temporary flood waters or woodland pools, drainage ditches and water contained in tree holes, leaves of plants, or artificial containers.  If your property contains standing water, it could be attracting mosquitoes, as that is where mosquitoes lay eggs.  It is important to note that flowing streams and open waters of rivers and lakes are an exception.

What Threats Do Mosquitoes Pose?

Mosquitoes bite and feed on the blood of mammals including humans; because they feed on such a wide variety of people and animals they carry and transmit a wide variety of serious diseases. Diseases that mosquitoes carry and spread include malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and encephalitis.

Mosquitoes are also carriers of West Nile virus which has become a huge concern all across the United States in recent years. Signs of West Nile virus include flu-like symptoms that if left untreated can lead to high fevers, weakness, confusion, and coma.

Along with spreading diseases mosquitoes can be quite a nuisance when trying to spend time outdoors. Their bites can cause swollen itchy welts on your skin, and their constant buzzing around your head can quickly drive you indoors.

Why do mosquitoes take a blood meal?

It is only the female mosquito that feeds on the blood of people and animals. The female needs the protein from the blood in order to form her eggs.

What attracts mosquitoes to people?

A person’s body heat and the carbon dioxide that they exhale will attract mosquitoes to people. Mosquitoes are also attracted to dark colored clothing, a person’s movement, and sweat.

How far can mosquitoes fly?

Depending on the time of year, wind direction and other environmental factors mosquitoes will fly from ½ mile to 10 miles. This is an important fact to remember because even if you have taken precautions to control mosquitoes on your property, you may still have problems with them if other properties nearby by have conditions that attract mosquitoes, especially standing water

How Do I Control Mosquitoes?

Mosquito control can be difficult, but should begin with locating and eliminating standing water sources on your property that may be allowing these pests to breed. If you have done this and you are still finding mosquitoes around your property, contact Holder’s Pest Solutions in Houston for more information on our mosquito control service.

How do I prevent mosquitoes?

Completely eliminating mosquitoes from your property is an impossible task, but along with professional mosquito control, there are things that you can do as a homeowner to help control the number of mosquitoes that are attracted to your property. Mosquitoes will lay their eggs on the top of standing water so reducing or eliminating areas of standing water on your property will help greatly. Baby pools, wheel barrows, bird baths, pet bowls, and garbage cans are all areas that can collect standing water and attract mosquitoes. Other prevention tips for mosquitoes include:

• Inspecting rain gutters frequently and making sure that they are draining water properly.
• Reducing the amount of vegetation that is on your property; do not let your landscaping become too dense.
• Keeping your lawn trimmed short.
• Making sure that windows and doors have intact screens to help stop mosquitoes from getting into your home.
• Caulking gaps found around windows and doors, installing door sweeps on exterior doors.

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