What is the spray truck schedule?
Mosquito activity is monitored year-round in the District. When sufficient adult mosquitoes are present, a control mission is planned. Spraying may be conducted any day of the week and is typically done after sunset for several hours. View currently planned operations.
Does weather affect spraying?
Yes, weather affects spraying. Whether it be aerial or ground applications, spraying may be postponed because of relatively high winds or precipitation. Some wind is preferable because it aids in distributing the microscopic particles put out by the Ultra-low volume equipment specific to mosquito control.
Is there a no-spray list?
Yes, we do maintain a no-spray list as a courtesy. If you need to be notified when we will be spraying around your area and/or do not want your residence or property to be included, you may let us know by joining our list. Please fill out our form to join the list. We do not share your information with anyone but it is available by law as part of a public records request.
What is the life cycle of a mosquito?
Below is the life cycle of the mosquito with different control measures for each stage.
What can I do to help control the mosquito population?
The East Flagler Mosquito Control District is tasked with controlling mosquitoes on a large scale. But if you have containers breeding mosquitoes in your yard, that is a problem you can solve by preferably removing containers, including bromeliads. Or covering or draining every few days when removal is not possible.
Two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, live exclusively in containers and differ from the other 48 species of mosquitoes in Flagler County in important ways. These “back-yard” mosquitoes are active primarily during the day and will be less affected by the spraying that is done at night to control the many different mosquito species that breed in the saltmarsh, freshwater swamps, low areas and temporarily flooded areas when many species reproduce. These container breeding species are not natives and exploit containers around homes to breed in and make use of unwitting homeowners to feed upon. Removing the containers and bromeliads they breed in will eliminate these two species from your yard permanently.
Does the spraying for mosquitoes affect pollinators?
We only apply pesticides when needed and this is determined by daily surveillance of the different life stages of the 48 species of mosquitoes in Flagler County. Mosquito control makes use of “fog trucks,” or what we refer to as ultra-low-volume spray trucks. This specialized equipment produces very small droplets of pesticide for the purpose of contacting flying mosquitoes at night when mosquitoes are active but pollinators are not. The amount of pesticide applied in this fashion is exceedingly low, less than an ounce per acre, and breaks down quickly so as to not affect people, pets or pollinators. This spray does not leave a residual capable of affecting the very small mosquito, let alone larger insects such as pollinators.
What we do is specific to the control of mosquitoes and is referred to as “space spraying.” This differs from foliar applications that pest control companies make for the elimination of pests which uses much more pesticide per area with intention upon leaving an active residual treatment. The American Mosquito Control Association says this, “there is no evidence, including incident reports, establishing that the extremely low product dosages used in ultra low volume (ULV) applications of mosquito adulticides present a material risk to pollinator health. This is demonstrated by the results of numerous studies on nontarget effects from truck-mounted and aerial ULV applications of labeled mosquito control products. These are space sprays and are not foliar applications and do not leave residues that might affect pollinators.” Further information can be found here https://www.mosquito.org/page/pollinators
What is arbovirus?
Arbovirus is a term used to refer to a group of viruses that are transmitted by arthropod vectors (such as mosquitoes). The word arbovirus is an acronym (ARthropod-BOrne virus). Nowadays we hear mostly about West Nile virus and more recently Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika but in the past Malaria, Yellow Fever, and Dengue (again) made Florida inhospitable to settlers. The mosquitoes are still here that transmit the diseases but they remain in check where mosquito control programs exist in the State.