Mosquitoes can turn into pests when their breeding area is close by. Mosquitoes can carry dangerous diseases such as malaria and the West Nile virus. Once an individual is bitten by a mosquito, the bite can cause itchiness and irritation.
Ways to eliminate mosquitoes
Always remember that prevention is the better option since mosquitoes are potential carriers of various diseases. If you will enrol in a first aid course, you can learn more about different diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and the appropriate measures to take.
Garlic
For many generations, it has been the practice of many farmers and gardeners to placing whole garlic cloves around their gardens, fields and yards to kill mosquitoes. Garlic is harmless to plants and safe for pets and children.
Placing garlic in those areas will kill mosquitoes and also repels them. The mosquito has an olfactory sense of 10,000 times powerful than the human, thus they can smell the garlic and discouraged by the odor. Garlic can also be placed inside homes to minimize the risk for diseases spread by mosquitoes.
Electric mosquito traps
It attracts and kills mosquitoes that fly in the area where it is positioned. Today, you can easily find a wide selection of electric mosquito traps that have distinct features.
Non-electric mosquito traps
These can be used in campsites and locations where electricity is not available. Some models of these mosquito traps work by scattering a safe odourless chemical that will drive away the mosquitoes.
Using pesticides and larvicides
There are pesticides that are specifically used on mosquitoes. Pesticides can be sprayed on corners and dark places of the house where mosquitoes usually gather.
As for the larvicides, they can be used on the places where mosquitoes breed. It is an insecticide used for killing the insect while it is at the larval stage. There are also biological agents that can be used to kill the larvae of mosquitoes. Bacillus thuringiensis or known as BT is a bacterial disease which can affect the larva of mosquitoes.
There are also soil bacteria that are registered as larvicides under the names of aquabac, teknar, vectorbac, larvX and vectoLexCG that are available in granular form. These are sprinkled on the surface of stagnant water where mosquitoes usually breed. Once the larvae ingest the bacteria, a crystallized toxin is produced inside the digestive tract that will destroy the digestive tract of the larvae resulting to death. Just remember that these larvicides can last only two weeks in the water.
Another biological agent that stops or interrupts the growth cycle of larvae until the pupa stage is called methoprene. This is placed in large bodies of water in the form of briquets which can last from one to five months. Take note that this is not harmful to humans and other animals and will not seep into the ground water supply.