If you average it out over the year it's probably a few million per day.
(I work in mosquito control)
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024
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Sad question... In killing mosquitos, are you also killing other insects?
We don't use aerial spraying, which can cause harm to other insects.
We only use a bacteria that's put in standing water which only harms mosquitos in their larval form (or biting black flies) and is totally safe for pretty much everything else since it needs very specific biological conditions for it to become toxic, which is only found in the stomachs of mosquitos and black flies.
That's super interesting. How common is the profession? Could we thank you guys for the relatively mosquito free summers?
Depends on the location. Mosquito control is done all over, but I'm only somewhat familiar with north america.
It's pretty widespread in the United States where it's done by government employees at the municipal and county level I believe. They do use a fair bit of aerial spraying in certain areas though as I understand since there is a high concern of certain diseases being spread in certain areas.
In Canada it's mostly done by private companies (ironic I know) with a few areas being done by the government, and it's mostly done just because of nuisance and negative economic effects from outdoor workers and tourism so aerial spraying of chemicals is pretty much not done at all except for one major city which is phasing it out.
If you live anywhere in north America that's nearby a river, coast, swampland, or significant snowmelt into he spring, you may have a local mosquito control program.
I never even knew the control programs existed until I came across the job postings and got hired, but they are fairly wide spread.
A female adult mosquito can live for a month or two, laying eggs every two to three days, between 100 and 300 eggs each time.
Also, they travel several kilometres for food - blood, so, I'm going out on a limb, but you might need to scale up your efforts if you're attempting to reduce the local population.
I can't actually remember the last time I even saw a mosquito.
Where do you live? Can I move there? 😭
They exist here. I just live inner city and never see them.
As someone who spent virtually the entirety of his life in a inner city in the North East, of North America we have lots of mosquitoes here. Which parts of the world do you come from? Some place with a good mosquito control department I assume?
I can't really explain it. I was as surprised as anyone when I realized I can't remember the last time I saw a mosquito.
It's Calgary, Canada. The climate is fairly arid, but there are definitely mosquitos in the area. I just haven't seen one in a long time, despite being outside for at least a couple of hours every day.
I suspect if I walked along the river more I'd see some though.