Think Twice About Spraying for Mosquitos 
by Nicole Netherton

Perhaps the only thing I dread more than the summer heat are mosquitoes. Taking steps to control them in your yard is a reasonable idea, but hiring a mosquito control company to spray your yard causes more harm than good. Not only is it not the most effective way to control these insects, but it can have harmful environmental effects.

Airborne spray targeting adult mosquitoes is much less effective than targeting the larvae before they can bite us! The most widely used mosquito-control sprays are highly toxic to other insects, including many pollinators and beneficial insects like bees, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, ladybugs, lightning bugs, and dragonflies. Many of these companies use a class of pesticides called pyrethrins, a natural compound derived from chrysanthemums, and pyrethroids, synthetic versions of these chemicals. Yes, these pesticides are approved by the EPA, but they have negative consequences for local ecosystems. Despite marketing efforts to the contrary, they don’t only kill mosquitoes. With insect populations plummeting worldwide, we can’t afford to cause harm to pollinators and other beneficial bugs. 

There is a better way! A cheap and effective method is to make a “Mosquito Bucket of Doom”-- providing an irresistible place for mosquitoes to breed and then treating it with a chemical (mosquito “dunks” or “bits” containing Bacillus Thuringiensis (BTi), available at home improvement stores or on Amazon) that will keep the larvae from reaching bitey adulthood. If you remove all standing water on your property and then provide the bucket, your breeding population will decrease. This treatment does not have to be broadcast in the air, nor does it run off into our watershed. Because it kills (only!) mosquitoes before they are old enough to bite, it is more effective at stopping the breeding cycle than targeting adult mosquitoes. Click here for instructions on making your own "Bucket of Doom."

I am lucky enough to see lightning bugs in my yard each summer. We can protect them and other beneficial insects by giving up the yard spray and forming a Mosquito Bucket of Doom brigade. Imagine what a difference we could make for biodiversity!

Tags: mosquitos, pollinators