No, our control materials do not affect horse or deer flies, and there is currently no wide-scale economical and environmentally sound way to control ticks. There are repellants for humans that may be effective on horse and deer flies, and your veterinarian or farm supply store can recommend repellants for animals. Repellants, wearing light-colored clothing, and avoiding their habitat are the best way for people to avoid ticks.

Yes. The County conducts routine inspections and treatments for larval mosquitoes.  We also treat for adult mosquitoes in the evenings.

The County maintains an aerial contract for larval and adult mosquito control on an as-need basis.

To make a service request or for more information, call the Mosquito Control customer service office at (407)665-5542 or email mosquito@seminolecountyfl.gov 

The last Dengue epidemic in Florida took place in 1934.  Mosquito Control efforts are the best way to prevent another outbreak.The last Dengue epidemic in Florida took place in 1934.  Mosquito Control efforts are the best way to prevent another outbreak.

Seminole County has about four dozen different mosquito species.

All mosquitoes must have water in which to complete their life cycle. This water can range in quality from melted snow water to sewage effluent and it can be in any container imaginable. The type of water in which the mosquito larvae is found can be an aid to the identification of which species it may be. Also, the adult mosquitoes show a very distinct preference for the types of sources in which to lay their eggs. They lay their eggs in such places such as tree holes that periodically hold water, tide water pools in salt marshes, sewage effluent ponds, irrigated pastures, rain water ponds, etc. Each species therefore has unique environmental requirements for the maintenance of its life cycle.

The feeding habits of mosquitoes are quite unique in that it is only the adult females that bite humans and other animals. The male mosquitoes feed only on plant juices. Some female mosquitoes prefer to feed on only one type of animal or they can feed on a variety of animals. Female mosquitoes feed on humans, domesticated animals, cattle, horses, goats, etc; all types of birds including chickens; all types of wild animals including deer, rabbits; and they also feed on snakes, lizards, frogs, and toads.

Most female mosquitoes have to feed on an animal and get a sufficient blood meal before she can develop eggs. If they do not get this blood meal, then they will die without laying viable eggs. However, some species of mosquitoes have developed the means to lay viable eggs without getting a blood meal.

The flight habits of mosquitoes depend again on the species with which we are dealing. Most domestic species remain fairly close to their point of origin while some species known for their migration habits are often an annoyance far from their breeding place. The flight range for females is usually longer than that of males. Many times wind is a factor in the dispersal or migration of mosquitoes. Most mosquitoes stay within a mile or two of their source. However, some have been recorded as far as 75 miles from their breeding source.

The length of life of the adult mosquito usually depends on several factors: temperature, humidity, sex of the mosquito and time of year. Most males live a very short time, about a week; and females live about a month depending on the above factors.

Ultraviolet (black light) electric traps, or bug zappers, are not effective in reducing mosquito annoyance. One study found that mosquitoes comprised only 6.4% of the insects in a five day catch, and only about half of the mosquitoes killed were blood-feeding females. Furthermore, these traps kill large numbers of non-pest insects such as beetles and moths. These insects are beneficial as part of the food chain, and some are natural biological controls on other insect pests.

Devices that claim to repel mosquitoes using high-frequency sound waves are ineffective. Numerous studies have shown that these products have little or no effect on mosquitoes. Citronella plants also have not been proven to effectively repel mosquitoes.


Many people believe that erecting purple martin and bat houses will reduce mosquito populations. However, in-depth studies have shown that mosquitoes comprise no more than 0 to 3% of the diet of purple martins. Likewise, bats are opportunists and will eat a variety of insects. They may eat mosquitoes but will also prey on beetles, moths, leafhoppers, wasps, flies, mayflies, and grasshoppers. They will most likely feed on whatever is most numerous and easiest to catch, and if necessary will travel far from their roosting sites in search of prey. Martins and bats will consume mosquitoes, but are not likely to significantly reduce the population. They should be protected and encouraged because they are interesting residents of the natural environment, not because of their ability to control pest populations.

Seminole County does not currently focus on midge complaints.  Interesting information can be found in the attached link.   http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in825

Decreasing the probability and number of mosquito bites helps. See the “Drain and Cover” flyer for some great tips! Preventative measures include avoiding outdoor activities after dark when the mosquitoes are most active, wearing protective clothing (long sleeves, pants, etc), and using mosquito repellent properly (http://mosquito.ifas.ufl.edu/Mosquito_Repellents.htm).

Note that different repellents may affect people differently; a person’s age, gender, level of activity, as well as the type of mosquito biting may all be factors. The University of Florida has provided the below Table 1 as a guideline to compare products. They also urge users to ask themselves the following questions when choosing a product:

• Are you in an area where you know that mosquito-borne diseases are present?
• What is the mosquito population like? (A lot of bites expected? Or occasional bites?)
• Will time spent outdoors at night be longer than an hour?
• Will you be around heavily vegetated, humid areas during the day?
• What type of activities are going on: exercising, running, playing sports, etc.?
• Is the humidity and temperature high?

Table 1. Protection Times of Tested Mosquito Repellents (http://mosquito.ifas.ufl.edu/Mosquito_Repellents.htm)

Products	Active Ingredient	Average Complete Protection Time
OFF! Deep Woods	23.8% DEET	5 hours
Sawyer Controlled Release	20% DEET	4 hours
OFF! Skintastic	6.65% DEET	2 hours
Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent	Oil of lemon eucalyptus; p-menthane 3,8-diol (PMD)	2 hours
Bite Blocker for Kids	2% Soybean Oil	1.5 hours
OFF! Skintastic for Kids	4.75% DEET	1.5 hours
Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus	7.5% IR3535	23 minutes
Natrapel	10% Citronella	20 minutes
Herbal Armor	12% Citronella; 2.5% peppermint oil; 2% cedar oil; 1% lemongrass oil; 0.05% geranium oil	19 minutes
Green Ban for People	10% Citronella; 2% peppermint oil	14 minutes
Buzz Away	5% Citronella	14 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard	0.1% Citronella	10 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil	Active Ingredient not known	10 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Moisturizing Suncare	0.05% Citronella	3 minutes
Gone Original Wristband	9.5% DEET	0
Repello Wristband	9.5% DEET	0
Gone Plus Repelling Wristband	25% Citronella	0

CDC evaluation of information contained in peer-reviewed scientific literature and data available from EPA has identified several EPA registered products that provide repellent activity sufficient to help people avoid the bites of disease carrying mosquitoes. Products containing these active ingredients typically provide reasonably long-lasting protection:

• DEET (Chemical Name: N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide or N,N-diethly-3-methyl-benzamide)


• Picaridin (KBR 3023, Chemical Name: 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 1-methylpropyl ester )


• Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus* or PMD (Chemical Name: para-Menthane-3,8-diol) the synthesized version of oil of lemon eucalyptus


• IR3535 (Chemical Name: 3-[N-Butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid, ethyl ester)

See the full report on the CDC's webpage.

Also, this document written by Dr. Roxanne Rutledge from IFAS provides some information about DEET.

https://www.pinellascounty.org/PublicWorks/mosquito/pdf/Avoiding-Repelling-Mosquitoes.pdf

The Seminole County Mosquito Control Program does not promote the use of automatic misting systems to control mosquitoes.  There are a number of reasons we discourage their use.  We support and follow the American Mosquito Control Association's position as follows:

 

POSITION STATEMENT ON MOSQUITO MISTING SYSTEMS

The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) has a number of concerns with the sale of outdoor time-released insecticide misting systems to homeowners and businesses as a means to control mosquitoes. The number of websites advertising the sale and installation of these systems appears to be growing. Some developments are even advertising home sites pre-plumbed for these systems.  

These systems utilize various synergized formulations of natural pyrethrins or synthetic pyrethroids that are dispensed into the environment at intervals determined by the user. Some systems also utilize minimum risk, FIFRA-exempt pesticides to control or repel mosquitoes. 

The position of the AMCA is that the practice of dispensing pesticides at predetermined intervals without surveillance data guiding the treatment is not consistent with the sound Integrated Mosquito Management practices that underlie our valued partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program. We are concerned that application of pesticides through these misting systems will have several undesirable effects.

1. Unnecessary insecticide use. Users of these systems would not commonly have the resources to monitor the local mosquito species and density, or to evaluate the other parameters used to establish control thresholds in professional mosquito control operations. Thus, timed space sprays may result in needless insecticide applications, leading to increased costs to the consumer and potentially adverse environmental impacts.
2. Lack of efficacy data. Other than testimonials, an historically unreliable source, there is little to demonstrate that these systems actually serve to control mosquito populations even when using demonstrably toxic insecticides. Furthermore, other materials marketed for use in these systems such as cedarwood oil, garlic and other ?natural? products by law do not have to prove their efficacy to any regulatory agency.  
3. Non-target impacts. Timed-release sprays will negatively impact beneficial insect populations and other non-target organisms on site and through uncontrolled off-site drift.
4. Promotion of insecticide resistance. The indiscriminate application of pyrethrins will continually select for resistance to the whole pyrethroid class of mosquitocides, all of which utilize the same fundamental mode of action. The synthetic pyrethroids currently play an essential role in the mosquito adulticiding component of integrated mosquito management programs that manage resistance formulation through rotation of pesticides of different modes of action and other methods. The potential loss of these compounds from our suite of control methods, resulting from widespread development of resistance, would seriously compromise our capability to control adult mosquito populations responsible for disease transmission or severe annoyance.
5. Risk of pesticide exposure. It appears that safeguards to minimize the risk of direct contact with pesticide sprays by residents are lacking from many of these systems. Pyrethrins, though relatively safe compounds, bear the signal word ?Caution? on the label, and the precautionary statements indicate that they may be harmful if inhaled. Labels also advise that pets and birds be removed and aquaria covered before spraying. Assuring homeowner compliance with these stipulations would be difficult, given that application of the pesticides is automated and can be overridden by the homeowner by means of wireless remote.
6. Incompatible with integrated pest management practices.  The level of hands-off, automated control these systems promise may result in homeowners neglecting to use other methods to reduce local mosquito populations ? even if encouraged by the installation technician. Practices such as removing mosquito larval habitats from the property or using personal repellents are essential to reducing human/mosquito contact. Neglecting these practices would, in turn, increase reliance upon the use of broadcast adulticides and propagate the unsound, one-dimensional approach to mosquito control these systems provide.

Many of these problems are currently being addressed by a formal consortium of stakeholders, regulators and mosquito control experts. Best management practices and advertising guidelines are being developed that will bring these systems more in conformance with acceptable mosquito control methods. Nonetheless, until misting systems are reconfigured so that surveillance drives the application, efficacy is demonstrated and drift is minimized, AMCA believes they are not consistent with sound practices to promote public and environmental health and should be discouraged.

The equipment used by Seminole County Mosquito Control to control adult mosquitoes emits an ultra-low-volume (ULV) spray of extremely small spray droplets. The volume of spray, or application rate per acre, is also extremely small. In addition, the equipment is only activated when driving a certain speed (5 to 18 mph); if you saw the trucks driving through the neighborhood on their way to another location, they may not have been spraying.

Seminole County Mosquito Control typically starts ground ULV spray operations after sunset and attempts to complete all operations before sunrise. At times, people are still active and outside after dusk when our spray missions are initiated. The greatest attempts are made to minimize exposure, such as turning off the fogger when human activity is present and to delay our start time as much as possible when most people are indoors, while still thoroughly treating the affected area.

Our website is updated daily to reflect what areas will be fogged.  For advance notification please visit this page and scroll to the section titled: The following streets and surrounding areas will be treated by Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) spray trucks, weather permitting:

https://seminolecounty.sgssys.info/page-not-found

Florida Administrative Code requires Seminole County to confirm 1) the particular mosquito species in an area, and 2) the level of infestation, prior to fogging. If Mosquito Control finds that a population of mosquitoes exceeds a certain threshold size, they can then determine the proper control and treatment method to use.

Lots of rain in a short period of time, plus warm temperatures, generally means more mosquitoes. If heavy rainfall is spread over a wide area, it makes it more difficult for us to reach all areas with our larval control during the seven to ten day period before the larvae become adult mosquitoes. Sometimes closely spaced rains will produce more than one brood (or hatch) of mosquitoes in the water at the same time. Consequently, some sites will have to be treated twice, and we may not have enough time and resources to do this. Conversely, normal rainfall or a dry period generally means fewer mosquitoes, and we are better able to keep up with them.

There are also limitations on how much adult mosquito spraying we can do, so we concentrate our efforts on larval mosquito control.

The plans for aerial spray missions are to target mosquito larvae in large, wet bodies of water.  These treatments are only used when there is a demonstrable increase in larvae counts, which will produce high levels of adult mosquitoes.

 

The two products used for aerial larviciding are B.t.i. and Methoprene.

 

B.t.i. (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) is a beneficial microorganism that can be used in organic gardening without destroying the natural balance that exists between pests and predators (Ellis & Bradley, 1992).  B.t.i. is applied to standing water for control of the larval stage of the mosquito life cycle.  The microorganism is ingested and the toxin disrupts the gut by binding to receptor cells present in the mosquito larva.

Methoprene is an insect growth regulator, which prevents immature mosquitoes from maturing into adults (Ellis & Bradley, 1992). 

Neither of these products affects beneficial insects and both are supported by many home organic gardeners.  In addition to being non-toxic to beneficial insects and mammals, there is little opportunity for human exposure, since the material is applied directly to ditches, ponds, marshes, or flooded areas that are not drinking water sources.

Ellis, B.W., & Bradley, F.M. (1992).  The Organic Gardener?s Handbook of Natural Insects and Disease Control.

If the water in a ditch or canal is flowing, it is not likely to produce any mosquitoes.

If it is a permanent body of water (such as a lake, pond or canal), it is much less likely to be a source of mosquitoes than if it were a temporary body of water such as a puddle or ditch. A puddle three inches deep and three feet in diameter can easily produce 10 to 20 times as many mosquitoes as your average 1-acre farm pond. Permanent bodies of water develop resident populations of predatory species (aquatic insects, fish, and salamanders) that help by reducing the mosquito larvae in that environment.

Mosquitoes have a very interesting and unique biology. They go through 3 stages before maturity – egg, larvae and pupae. Each species has a different set of conditions required to complete this process. Some species lay eggs on damp soil, where they can remain for years before hatching. Another species needs emergent vegetation (such as the common cattail) to complete this process. Other species need saltwater to develop. One basic fact is constant for all species – stagnant water is required for the maturation cycle. By removing, covering or draining containers, you can disrupt this process and reduce or eliminate mosquito annoyance and the potential for disease transmission from certain species in your own area. Wetlands and other mosquito habitats need a professional mosquito control technician. Please notify Seminole County Mosquito Control if you see these habitats.

Only the female mosquito bites, to draw blood necessary for egg development. When a female mosquito pierces the skin with her proboscis (mouthparts), she injects a small amount of saliva into the wound before drawing blood. The saliva makes penetration easier and prevents the blood from clotting in the narrow channel of her food canal. The welts that appear after the mosquito leaves is not a reaction to the wound, but an allergic reaction to the saliva injected to prevent clotting. In most cases, the itching sensation and swellings subside within several hours. Some people are highly sensitive and symptoms persist for several days. Scratching the bites can result in infection if bacteria from the fingernails are introduced to the wounds.