Mosquito Identification & Prevention

Here in Texas, grilling is a favorite pastime. However, it's hard to enjoy grilling when you have to smack your arms and scratch the whole time. Mosquitoes are biting flies that regularly prevent people from enjoying time outside in their yards with family and friends.

Mosquitoes bite to consume blood meals. However, blood is only one of their sources of nutrition; in fact, males don't even feed on blood. The primary food source for female and male mosquitoes is plant nectar.

Female mosquitoes consume their blood meals to get the protein they require to make eggs and complete their life cycle. To feed, the females use their proboscis – an extending mouthpart that pierces through the skin of their animal or human host and sucks out the blood.

Mosquitoes are a danger to both people and animals. When female mosquitoes bite, most people experience an allergic reaction to their saliva, and red raised welt forms around the bite site. Mosquito bites are itchy, and excessive itching is not only maddening but can lead to a secondary infection.

While itchy mosquito bites are reason enough to keep these pests away from your property in College Station and Bryan, there are even larger health risks associated with these pests. A single female feeds on many hosts throughout their life. As mosquitoes feed on the blood of various hosts, they can acquire and spread dangerous pathogens. Diseases mosquitoes spread include the West Nile virus and encephalitis.

Though not every mosquito that bites you will infect you with a disease, limiting your exposure is important. Swoboda Pest & Termite Control offers mosquito extermination, mosquito control, and mosquito prevention services to solve your mosquito problems.

Mosquitoes can't complete their life cycle without water. Mosquito populations are directly associated with the amount of standing water available for the females to use as breeding sites. After the females lay their eggs on top of standing water, the larva hatch and feed on organisms in the water until they are ready to pupate and emerge as adults.

The more standing water you have on or near your property, the more problems you will have with biting mosquitoes. Places in your Bryan backyard that collect standing water and offer breeding sites include tree hollows and stumps, clogged gutters, birdbaths, wading pools, tires, and tarps.

Mosquitoes rest during the middle of the day in cool, shady areas near their breeding and feeding sites. Places that provide mosquitoes with resting and breeding sites and where we regularly come into contact with mosquitoes are:

• Wooded areas
• Walking and biking trails
• Parks and athletic fields
• Backyards
• Roadway ditches
• Tall grass in drains, ditches, along walkways, and fence lines

Because mosquitoes like to hide from the sun during the day, these insects are most active in the early morning and evening hours. Dusk and dawn are the worst times of day for mosquitoes and when you are most likely to receive repeated mosquito bites.

Want a one-shot mosquito barrier? Call us today! The Swoboda Mosquito Barrier stops mosquitoes from wanting to enter your property. We call it a barrier because it acts like a wall for mosquitoes. After treating a yard, we often see mosquito swarms that stop at the treatment's edge.

Want to know the best way to handle mosquitoes in Bryan and College Station? Sign up for The Swoboda Pest Control' Mosquito Barrier’©. Are you on our residential 'Year Round' GUARANTEED Pest Control Service? If so, you'll get a significant discount on your first Mosquito Barrier! Call today to hear our newest offers.

Don't let mosquitoes ruin your yard time! If you're sick of mosquitoes around your home or business, call Swoboda Pest & Termite Control today. Take back your yard and enjoy your outdoors again.

Use the following tips to control mosquitoes in your Texas yard and minimize your family's exposure to these pests. 

• Repair leaky spigots, hoses, and plumbing.
• Remove areas of standing water from your property.
• Keep gutters clear of wet debris that females will lay their eggs on.
• Keep your grass cut short and prune back overgrown trees and shrubs.
• Store containers that collect water upside down or inside when not being used. 

The best way to get rid of mosquitoes is to partner with Swoboda Pest & Termite Control. Implement our home pest control and commercial pest control solutions, and we'll help you fire up that BBQ and enjoy your backyard again!