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Mosquito population explodes
Published May 3, 2009
ANGLETON — Mosquito counts in Brazoria County are “horrendous and high,” and mosquito control professionals said they are working overtime to get the outbreak under control.
Recent rains are fueling the mosquito population explosion, Mosquito Control Supervisor Jim Ryan said.
Counts are measured by having an employee stand in a particular area and counting the number of insects that land below their waist. This week has netted “a few 100-plus counts” in saltwater marsh areas, and counts ranging from eight to 50 in cities, Ryan said.
“Those are very high numbers,” he said.
The method has been used in the county for 30 years and is an accurate way to predict the movement of mosquitoes, he said.
And they’re no doubt on the move, Ryan said.
“We’ve seen salt marsh mosquitoes all the way to Alvin,” Ryan said. “We have a combination of conditions. High winds produce higher than normal tides, which produce salt marsh flooding. High winds also push mosquitoes into populated areas.”
The wind is a double-edged sword. While it keeps less-aggressive mosquitoes on the ground, hiding in grass and not attacking as much, it also blows the chemicals sprayed to kill them.
No diseases have been found in mosquitoes trapped in various locations throughout the county, but a large variety of the insects have been caught. Out of a dozen mosquitoes nabbed in one trap, there were nine different species.
Ryan said there are about 2,500 known species of mosquito on Earth. Of those, about 240 are in the United States and 80 in Texas, with 40 known to survive in Brazoria County. Chief among the groupings here are culex, or freshwater, and saltwater marsh mosquitoes, with saltwater the most aggressive.
“The bottom line is every one of them is based on water,” Ryan said. “Some like saltwater, some like stagnant water, some like flowing water. We have all of that water going right now.”
The county uses nine trucks and two airplanes to combat mosquitoes, and they’re all in operation every day, said Monica Steves with the county’s mosquito control. Call volume has been very heavy at the Angleton office.
“They say they have mosquitoes and wonder where the truck is,” Steves said. “We’re all over Brazoria County. We tell them we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
When trucks do pass, Ryan asks that people go inside since drivers won’t spray around humans. Trucks run from 4 to 8 a.m. and 6 to 10 p.m., Lake Jackson Public Works Superintendent Robert Stark said.
Lake Jackson and Freeport join county trucks to spray within their city limits.
“If you hear the truck coming, duck into the garage or into the house and let the mist settle,” Stark said.
If people want to kill mosquitoes in their own backyards, he recommends two commercial products — Cutter’s “Bug Free Back Yard” or Spectracide’s “Mosquito Stop.” Don’t spray the chemicals on vegetables, fruits or pet food, water, bowls or bedding, he said.
Wearing long sleeves and pants, and spraying oneself with mosquito repellent are other solutions, Ryan said. The county is working as quickly as possible to kill the insects.
“If you have to be outside, wear a repellent,” he said. “We’re using truck spraying, aerial spraying — we’re working through the weekend and every time there’s an opportunity to spray. They’re bad all over the county right now. They’re everywhere.”
John Lowman covers Brazoria County for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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