What are mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes belong to the same family as true flies and gnats. They are most known for “biting” people and causing a raised itchy welt on the skin. It is actually only the female mosquito that does any biting, she needs the protein from the blood in order to create her eggs. Both males and females feed on sugars found in plants, nectar, and honey dew.
What do mosquitoes look like?
Adult mosquitoes are mostly gray in color and have white, silver, green, blue or iridescent scales on their body. They have a single pair of wings, long thin legs, and a distinctive long thin proboscis (nose) that they use for piercing their victims skin. Their body is narrow and oval in shape and adults can grow to be ¼ – 3/8th of an inch in length.
Why do I have them?
Female mosquitoes need an area of standing water to lay their eggs on and therefore are attracted to properties that provide them with water sources. Mosquitoes will lay eggs on bird baths, in buckets, clogged rain gutters, pools, ponds, tires, and wheel barrows. Mosquitoes are also drawn to properties that have lots of flowers and plants that they can use to feed on and to areas that have dense vegetation or tall grass that they can hide in during the high heat times of the day.
Why are there more mosquitoes after it rains?
Mosquitoes need still standing water to lay their eggs on, so heavy rains can actually wash away eggs that have already been laid. But, after a rainstorm ends there are many areas of standing stagnant water that attract mosquitoes. The females then lay large numbers of new eggs that quickly hatch and mature causing the mosquito population to quickly increase.
Are they dangerous?
Yes, mosquitoes are dangerous. Mosquitoes are responsible for carrying and spreading a large number of dangerous diseases that include the deadly West Nile virus, malaria, dengue fever, and Zika virus.
For more information about the Zika virus in Kansas, click here and visit the Zika virus page of the Kansas Department of Health & Environment website and for information regarding the Zika virus in the United States, click here to go to the Zika virus section of the Center for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) website.
Mosquitoes also carry the chikungunya virus which can cause joint pain, headaches, fever, and rash in people 3-7 days after being bitten and becoming infected. This virus, while being painful, is generally not severe and most people feel better within a week and have no lingering symptoms.
Mosquitoes can also affect dogs and cause them to become infected with canine heartworm which can lead to death if they are not treated for it.
How Do You Get rid of mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes travel long distances in order to find a blood meal, and because of this completely eliminating mosquitoes from your property is an impossible task. Schendel Pest Services can, however, greatly reduce their numbers through our mosquito control services.
How soon can you get there?
Schendel understands just how stressful pest problems can be for home and business owners. We are committed to helping our customers control and eliminate pest problems as quickly as possible, and in most instances Schendel’s experts are able to respond to service requests the same day or the very next day.
Is the treatment safe?
Yes, our treatment methods are safe for use around people, pets, and plants. Our technicians use the least amount of material possible to solve your pest problem whether that is using natural products, baits, or conventional products.
Schendel follows very strict guidelines, and all of our conventional products are EPA registered and approved which further ensures the safety of their use.
How much does it cost?
All of our pest services are priced standardly. Pricing may be dependent on the size of your home and numbers of treatments that are required to solve your specific pest problem. We are able to provide our customers with FREE quotes; and our technicians are dedicated to making sure that you are aware of any changes to the price of your service before treatment begins.
We take pride in communicating openly and honestly with our customers ensuring that there are no surprises for you during the billing process.
How can I prevent this in the future?
While there is no way to completely stop problems with mosquitoes on your property, there are things that you can do to deter them and reduce their numbers. A few tips to help keep mosquitoes from choosing your property are:
- Limit the amount of flowering plants and vegetation that you have on your property.
- Keep grass trimmed short thus limiting mosquitoes hiding places.
- Be sure that your gutters are working properly to direct water away from your home and are not allowing water to pool up or sit inside them.
- Repair or replace all damaged window and door insect screens.
- Install insect screening on and around all utility entrances, HVAC systems entrances and exits and on pipes and chimneys.
- All gaps around windows and doors should be caulked and filled in.
- Fix any leaky outdoor fixtures.
- Always be sure that wheel barrows, buckets and other things that can collect water are stored upside down.
- Fix and level and low lying areas on your property that may collect water.
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