Mosquito Control
At Altus Pest Control we take pride in protecting your home from year-round invaders and seasonal pests. Our experienced, licensed, and well-trained technicians are committed to providing your home with safe, environmentally friendly pest protection. We simply guarantee results, if pest activity persists after a service call, we will return for free until the problem has been solved.
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We simply guarantee results, if pest activity persists after a service call, we will return for free until the problem has been solved.
Quit Sucking!
If you notice swarms of mosquitoes in your yard or around your house, there are measures you take to prevent and get rid of them. Altus Pest Control offers solutions for all your mosquito control needs.
Having a consistent treatment program is the best way to achieve satisfactory control of potentially dangerous biting insects.
Every person has had an encounter with mosquitos and the incredibly itchy welts they leave behind. Mosquitoes are one of the most hated insects on the planet because they not only have an itchy bite, they can also transmit diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever and more. Keeping yourself and your children from these potentially life-altering diseases is vital. We want to leave your home completely pest free and your complete satisfaction is our number one priority.
Mosquito Life Cycle
A mosquito’s life cycle is relatively short compared to other insects. Some mosquito species will lay their eggs all at once. These eggs attach to each other to form a “raft” that can float on top of water. Other types of mosquitoes lay their eggs singly in wet soil, refuse or debris. Once eggs have been laid, they typically hatch within 48 hours. Others are laid late in the season and wait out the harsh winter weather before hatching. These eggs are very durable and can even withstand subzero temperatures, and once spring hits, they will be all over your yard again.
Mosquito larvae emerge from eggs and spend their time feeding on microorganisms in the water and will molt several times before entering the pupal state after which they finally metamorph into their final state as an adult mosquito. The entire lifecycle of a mosquito differs based on the temperature of their surroundings but on average, female mosquitoes live about 6-8 weeks. Male mosquitoes live a short 10 days and though they do not bite, they are still a threat since they fertilize the eggs of a female, helping to perpetuate this cycle. A female mosquito can lay up to 300 eggs at a time so as you can imagine with such a short life cycle these insects can reproduce quickly. Infestations of mosquitoes during the spring and summer months are common as long as they have a place to keep laying their eggs.
These little buggers may be durable and persistent, but with professional mosquito control, they don’t stand a chance.
Where Mosquitoes Live
Mosquitoes grow and breed in areas with a high moisture content. Look around your home. Do you have standing water, puddles, gardens with saturated soil or dripping water hoses? These are prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They see these areas as an invitation to lay their eggs. Here are a few other things you can do to avoid unintentionally creating mosquitoes breeding areas:
- Get rid of tin cans, buckets, old tires or anything that can catch rain water.
- Keep your rain gutters on your roof free of debris and trash so stagnant water does not accumulate
- Check air conditioner drip pans
- Clean out the gutters near your sidewalk and other drainage areas so the wet debris does not attract them
- Keep your trash cans covered and sealed
- Change bird bath water regularly
- Do not overfill flower pots causing excess water in the drip trays
If you have tarps covering firewood or other areas in your yard, shake them off regularly.
It’s important after you empty the water however, to clean these areas with soap and water. Eggs can remain stuck to these areas even in the absence of water and then hatch later. Keeping your yard mosquito free requires vigilance.
The Danger of Mosquitoes
It has been said that “mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals in the entire world.” That is not what most people think of when they think of dangerous animals. Sharks, hippos, moose, lions and other muscular, sharp toothed animals are typically what come to mind. Though those animals can be quite scary in the wild, the reason that mosquitoes top the list as the most dangerous creature is because of the number of deaths they cause each year. In history, mosquitoes have been the cause of massive, catastrophic casualties because of how quickly they spread disease from one person to the next.
People take extreme precautions when it comes to protecting themselves against blood-borne pathogens and diseases. Within hospitals, extreme effort is given to protect patients and medical personnel alike from spreading contagious diseases. Mosquitoes, however, can transmit blood infected with disease from person to person, completely unrestricted and unrestrained. These mosquitoes are vehicles for disease transmission and once they pick up a virus from a host, the virus is able to reproduce within the mosquito. Then, when the mosquito bites again, it transfers that virus through its saliva to the new host.
Staying mosquito-free means staying safe and healthy!
What Diseases Do Mosquitoes Carry?
Mosquitoes have been transmitting deadly diseases throughout history and up until the advent of modern medicine, they were responsible for killing off large populations of people. As our medical knowledge has become more advanced and we have developed new ways to keep mosquitoes away, the fatalities resulting from mosquito borne diseases have slowed.
Malaria
Malaria is caused by a one-celled parasite that a mosquito picks up from infected people. Within the mosquito, the parasite reproduces and when it bites again, the mosquito passes the parasite through its salivary glands on to its next victim. Malaria parasites reproduce rapidly within the liver and red blood cells of the infected individual causing potentially deadly results. These parasites destroy red blood cells and clog the capillaries which result in irreversible damage within blood vessels and major organs. Every year, over 200-300 million people are afflicted with malaria and of those, more than 400,000 people die from it.
Zika virus
Zika virus is a terrifying disease that presents as fierce flu-like symptoms such as fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. However, another tragic result of this disease is that babies of infected pregnant women are also born with microcephaly, a birth defect resulting in an unusually small head and other problems such as developmental delays, hearing and vision loss, seizures and poor movement and balance.
West Nile Virus
West Nile virus is a commonly transmitted disease that mosquitoes carry, however 70-80% of people who become infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms at all. However, 1 in 5 people will become symptomatic and the symptoms are severe. These include headache, rash, body aches, joint pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms go away within a week but the resulting fatigue and exhaustion can last for week or months even. In a small percentage of those symptomatic with West Nile virus, severe neurologic symptoms can present. Those with weakened immune systems can develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) or meningitis. Some of these neurological effects can be permanent and kills roughly 100 people a year, making this disease very dangerous.
