Mosquito Control for Central NJ Yards: Water First, Then Treatment

Mosquitoes breed in water, not in your lawn

Rutgers Cooperative Extension counts more than 60 kinds of mosquitoes in New Jersey, and every one needs water in its immature stages. A common myth gets this backward: Rutgers states flatly that mosquitoes do not breed in tall grass. The larvae are aquatic, wriggling up to the surface for air and down for food, and in warm weather the whole trip from egg to adult can take less than 10 days. Rutgers adds that mosquitoes will develop in any puddle that lasts more than four days.

Around a house, the usual culprit is the northern house mosquito, which Rutgers calls the most common mosquito in urban and suburban areas. It lays eggs in almost any container holding water fouled by grass clippings, dead leaves or algae: discarded tires, birdbaths that never get rinsed, clogged gutters and wading pools left to sit. The eastern tree-hole mosquito uses rot holes in shade trees and tires full of leaves. The numbers can be startling. Rutgers notes that a single discarded tire can produce tens of thousands of tree-hole mosquitoes in a season, and that clogged roof gutters can produce millions.

The Asian tiger mosquito and the afternoon bite

If you get bitten on the patio in broad daylight, the Asian tiger mosquito is a likely suspect. A Rutgers fact sheet records its first New Jersey detection in August 1995, in a trap at a coastal site in Monmouth County, with the mosquito already established along Raritan Bay, not far from Matawan. It is black with bright white markings and banded hind legs, and Rutgers describes it as an opportunistic feeder that bites as readily in daylight as at dusk, typically approaching at ankle level.

It is a container breeder. Females glue their eggs to the inside walls of flower pots, buckets, cans, tires and similar items, and the eggs hatch when rain raises the water level. That habit is why emptying and scrubbing containers matters so much for this species: the eggs stay stuck to the sides even after the water is gone.

Inside a yard mosquito treatment visit

Our technician spends the first part of each visit on the ground, not with a sprayer.

Source survey and cleanup

We walk the yard looking for anything that holds water: saucers, buckets, toys, tarps, recycling bins, pool covers, low spots in the lawn, gutters and downspout extensions, tree holes and rain barrels. We tip, drain or flag each one and walk you through what needs a lasting fix on your side, such as drilling drainage holes in the bottom of an outdoor recycling bin (Rutgers notes that holes on the sides still leave enough water for breeding), or covering a rain barrel with fine screen as Rutgers and the CDC both advise.

For water that cannot be emptied or covered and is not used for drinking, such as an ornamental pond that is not aerated, the CDC describes larvicides as an option, applied according to the label.

Treating where adults rest

Adult mosquitoes spend daylight hours in dark, humid shelter. The CDC points to spots like the underside of patio furniture and under a carport or garage as places to apply an outdoor adulticide, following label instructions. In a typical yard we add dense shrub beds, the shaded side of fences and low, leafy growth near where you sit. Your technician will explain any steps to take before and after treatment, following the product label.

Mosquito spraying service from late spring to fall

Because a new generation can come up from egg to adult in under 10 days during warm weather, a single visit in July only buys a short break. A mosquito spraying service works as a series: repeat visits through the warm months, each one rechecking the water sources from the last time and treating resting areas again as the label allows.

Between our visits, the CDC asks homeowners to empty and scrub, turn over, cover or throw out anything holding water once a week. That weekly habit is the single most useful thing you can add to a treatment plan. We set the start date, spacing and number of visits with you, and we will say so if what we find suggests the plan is not worth it for your yard.

Standing water checklist for between visits

• Empty and scrub plant saucers, buckets, pet bowls left outside and children's toys weekly.
• Change birdbath water and rinse the basin at least once a week.
• Turn wading pools and wheelbarrows upside down when they are not in use.
• Clean leaves out of roof gutters, and check that downspout extensions drain.
• Keep rain barrels tightly lidded or covered with mesh finer than a mosquito.
• Pump standing water off pool covers, and keep an unused pool cleaned and chlorinated.
• Get rid of old tires, or store them where they cannot collect water.
• Fill or drain tree holes and low spots that hold water for days after a storm.

When the mosquitoes come from the marsh: county mosquito control

Some mosquitoes are beyond any homeowner's control, or ours. Rutgers explains that the major pest species near the coast come from tidal salt marsh water, that many inland pests develop in rain pools from summer storms, and that swamps produce them throughout the state. Many of those must be handled by authorized county mosquito control agencies, because of restrictions on work in wetland habitats. Swamp mosquitoes can travel one to two miles for a blood meal, and floodwater species can cause a nuisance 10 to 20 miles from where they hatched.

Mosquito control in New Jersey is organized by county, and your county agency can inspect your property, collect biting adults and work out where they are coming from. If our survey turns up little water on your lot but the biting is heavy, we will tell you that the source is probably elsewhere and point you to the county agency, rather than sell you visits that cannot fix it.

Gadgets that do little against mosquitoes

Rutgers has a whole fact sheet on mosquito products with limited value. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that electronic repellers that hum at a set frequency do not stop mosquitoes from biting. Bug zappers kill plenty of insects, but Rutgers reports that biting insects make up less than 1 percent of the catch, and comparison trapping found no significant difference in mosquito numbers between yards with and without them. Citrosa plants sold as mosquito repellents did not reduce bites in testing. For personal protection the CDC recommends proven insect repellents applied as directed, along with window and door screens in good repair.