In accordance with our federal Congested Area Plan, St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District is announcing that it will resume aerial operations for the 2023 mosquito season in the coming weeks when seasonal mosquito thresholds determine it is operationally needed.

A four-year collaboration between the Pontchartrain Conservancy (PC) and St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement (STPMAD) on an EPA funded project has yielded importantfindings for our understanding of sewage-associated mosquitoes. The project area, Ponchitolawa Creek Watershed, drains approximately 9,441 acres in St. Tammany Parish and is a tributary of the Lower Tchefuncte River, which flows into Lake…

Many mosquitoes exploit newly wetted and/or ephemeral habitats that are prone to dry up. This is likely due to the lack of competition from other organisms with which they compete for nutrients. Alternatively, ephemeral habitats offer a lower risk of predation from natural enemies that may have not had time to invade these habitats. In…

Temperature and nutrients are the fuel for larval mosquito development. As ectotherms—relying upon ambient temperatures—the mosquito life cycle is dominated by temperature. Though the role of ambient temperature in mosquito development has likely been known to the scientific community for a half century or more, it was only recently that this knowledge led to a…

Larval Mosquito Control The temperature-dependent operations to kill larval mosquitoes are the frontline of our war on the southern house mosquito. Since larval and pupal mosquitoes can swim but not fly, eliminating mosquitoes from aquatic habitats is easier to target, less expensive, and more environmentally sensitive than killing adult mosquitoes. Also, a dead immature mosquito…

All mosquito control operations in St. Tammany Parish are evidence-based. This means that each mission is driven by inspection, trap, or complaint data. Efficient service to reduce biting rates of adult mosquitoes is reliant on the sensitive detection of where and when mosquitoes and the pathogens they transmit require treatment. In 2015, we began experimenting…

The southern house mosquito doesn’t distinguish one source of sewage-polluted habitat from another. Wherever organically enriched water remains for more than seven days it could be producing vector mosquitoes. Sewage treatment facilities including those that treat large municipalities can be sources of southern house mosquito production. Though up to two-thirds of St. Tammany Parish relies…

The Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, is the most widely distributed fish in the world and likely the single biggest mosquito predator. Undoubtedly, this diminutive fish, no larger than a few inches, has saved more human and animal lives from mosquito-transmitted diseases than any other organism — doctors included. For this reason, the mosquitofish is humanity’s…

Where mosquito larvae are found is not just a function of where their predators are not. Female mosquitoes selectively choose habitats to promote survivorship of their offspring. To better understand the habitat choices of the southern house mosquito, STPMAD has performed egg-laying choice experiments with 5-gallon buckets. By counting egg rafts deposited overnight in various…

Under the guidance of Dr. Don Yee in collaboration with STPMAD, Catherine Dean Bermond, a University of Southern Mississippi graduate student is completing her Masters thesis on the sewage influence on the southern house mosquito life-history traits (development time and body size). As well, Ms. Bermond is investigating carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) ratios in…

Mosquito Abatement is fortunate that the National Weather Service (NWS) and Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center office is immediately next door. This proximity has led to a valuable collaboration with meteorologists Jared Klein and David Schlotzhauer. Though we’ve known that the abundance of southern house mosquitoes was associated with drought conditions, precipitation data provided by…

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…

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement (STPMAD) has measured a significant increase in the number of floodwater mosquitoes collected in traps over recent days. Due to the large amount of rainfall the region recently received with Hurricane Ida, areas across St. Tammany Parish are experiencing explosive populations of Aedes atlanticus and Psorophora ferox mosquitoes. These two…

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement (STPMAD) has collected mosquitoes that have tested positive for infection with West Nile virus (WNV). The Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL), at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, reported one positive pool (group of multiple adult mosquitoes) of mosquitoes, or infected mosquitoes, collected from a trap in the City…

The St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District will receive sealed bids until 12:00 noon, Tuesday, January 19, 2021, for fixed wing aircraft aerial adulticide services. Bids will be opened at the Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday, January 20, 2021, at the St. Tammany Parish School Board Chambers, 321 North Theard, Covington, LA at 1:00pm.  Sealed…

The St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District will receive sealed bids until 10:00 AM, Tuesday, November 17, 2020, for the purchase of the following insecticides and herbicides.  Bids must remain effective until December 31, 2021. (1)       Dibrom 14 (Naled or equivalent).  Material must contain 12.6 lbs. of actual Naled per gallon and be supplied…

The St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District will receive sealed bids until 12:00 noon, Tuesday, January 19, 2021, for the sale of a 1979 Cessna-T188C “Ag-Husky” fixed wing aircraft. The minimum bid is $100,000 USD. Bids will be opened at the Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday, January 20, 2021, at the St. Tammany Parish School…

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abetment District is seeking quotes for mass communications professional services. We will receive proposals until 12:00 noon (CST) on August 14, 2020. The following items are required from the platform: At least 500 contacts Unlimited groups Contact reports Voice and text messaging Geofencing to select contacts by location. Additional features (not…

St Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement seeks proposals for an in-flight aerial spray drift management software and hardware system. Proposals will be accepted until 12 p.m. June 17, 2020. We intend to purchase two systems: one for a fixed-wing and one for a rotor-wing aircraft. The purchase will be in accordance with The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s…

As mosquito populations are increasing, St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District is resuming aerial operations for the 2020 mosquito season, weather permitting.

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement (STPMAD) has collected mosquitoes that have tested positive for infection with West Nile virus (WNV) for the first time this year. The Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL), at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine reported that this is the first WNV infected pool of mosquitoes in the state for…

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement (STPMAD) announced today that it will begin using a helicopter as a new tool to combat mosquito populations in St. Tammany Parish. With the month of May marking the start of the West Nile virus season, this pilot program will begin the third week of May with a 30-day evaluation…

St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement will receive sealed descriptions of qualifications for professional architecture services to design and oversee construction of an expansion of its existing facilities at 62512 Airport Rd. Bldg. 23, Slidell, LA until 12:00 PM, May 15, 2019. To receive the full specifications in the formal Request for Qualifications (RFQ) document, please…