– Press release from Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program

Mosquitoes?  I thought we were in a drought?

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Immature mosquitoes need water to breed and pupate into adult mosquitoes.  While the river level may be low, there are still many places mosquitoes call home.  Mosquitoes spend the first part of their life as larvae in still or slow moving water.  The warmer the water, the faster larval mosquitoes develop.  When they are mature, they pupate and emerge as adult mosquitoes.  Half the adult population are male and feed on plant nectar and the rest of newly emerged adults are female.  The female mosquito needs protein to lay her eggs; this is why you are important.

We have had moderate temperatures and higher humidity.  When it is hot and dry, adult mosquitoes, live a very short life, as exoskeletons do not retain moisture well.  When it is cooler and humid, the adult mosquitoes live longer and may be able to lay several batches of eggs and each batch of eggs requires a new protein source; this is why you are important.

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Your Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program is killing lots and lots of immature larval mosquitoes, but we cannot kill all of them.  A small percentage does make it to adulthood and these stay around longer and bite us when our weather is cool and humid.  Hot and dry weather will help control adult mosquitoes and we will take all the help we can get.

We depend on your communication to help identify where we have problems with mosquitoes.  Please drop us a note on email at [email protected] or give us a call at 760.8737853.  You will probably need to leave a message with the details of your report because our small group is out killing mosquitoes.  This again is why you are important.

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