It rains a lot in South Louisiana. Intuitively, rain creates standing water where most mosquitoes lay their eggs and rear their offspring as larvae and pupae. Most mosquito species’ populations demonstrate a positive association with increasing amount or frequency of rainfall. Counterintuitively, the southern house mosquito bucks this trend — this West Nile vector is…
Routine inspection for mosquito larvae involves counting larvae in water samples taken by a pint-sized “dipper” on a yard-long stick. Mosquito control personnel take hundreds of such samples per day in a haphazard fashion—dipping wherever they suspect larvae may inhabit. Using this approach, field biologists find hotspots effectively, cover a lot of ground, and treat…
Effluent discharged into ditches is not the only source conducive for mosquito production associated with OWTS. Mosquitoes can infiltrate OWTS settling tanks if lids are broken, missing, or other access points allow entry. In 2019, field biologists performed inspections door-to-door in the Tammany Hills neighborhood to understand whether mosquito production was occurring within OWTS tanks.…
Q: I keep my “septic” system (OWTS) maintained all the time, why should I care about mosquitoes these systems may produce? A: The answer is that because mosquitoes can fly, even if you keep your OWTS working, your neighbor’s unmaintained system may be producing mosquitoes that can transmit WNV. In fact, according to our partners…
Knowing there is a problem and providing temporary mitigation to limit mosquito populations does not address the root cause of the sewage-associated mosquito production. In 2015, STPMAD joined an informal Water Quality Taskforce consisting of St. Tammany Parish Departments of Planning and Environmental Services, LA Department of Environmental Quality, LA Department of Health, LA Sea…
