Mosquito season here; call Lee or Charlotte; thousands of eggs in each square foot

With the summer months comes the start of Florida’s peak mosquito season. Two jurisdictions cover mosquito control for Gasparilla Island.

“We started this mosquito season with a bang,” said Jenifer McBride of Lee County Mosquito Control District. “We had a really dry winter so basically you guys are inundated with those salt marsh mosquitos.”

Throughout the especially dry winter water evaporated, which provided a perfect habitat of moist soil for those salt marsh mosquitos to lay eggs, McBride said. 

“This created a huge egg bank, so that week of rain we got prompted them to all hatch at once,” she said.

Mosquito control units treat larvae and adult mosquitoes differently, and there is only five days between these two stages to stop them from becoming adults. “Now there are literally billions of mosquitoes,” McBride said. 

Per one square foot of salt marsh area, there are 39,000 eggs laid, and Lee County is 1/10 salt marsh land, she said.

Lee County Mosquito Control is now out in the community pretty much 24/7, but their work is very much dependent on the weather.

“Part of the problem was we have westerly winds, so adults are being blown to where people are,” McBride said.

Salt marsh mosquitoes shouldn’t be a major problem all summer, especially as rainy season progresses. This type of mosquito won’t lay eggs in standing water, so when salt marsh areas are flooded, their numbers should decline, she said. That isn’t to say that all mosquitoes will go away, as different species do lay eggs in standing water. 

Until more rain comes, mosquito control will attempt to keep these populations under control by adulticiding and larviciding to target both stages of the mosquito life cycle. Lee County has someone out on island managing the mosquitoes and taking search requests, McBride said. 

Boca Grande was treated for mosquitos by helicopter between sunset and 2 a.m. on June 18, according to the areas of treatment map at lcmcd.com.

“We encourage people to put in search requests, so that we can serve the community,” she said. “Wear long sleeves and DEET.”

In Lee County, submit a service request at lee.leateamapps.com/map/mv_public_map_add. 

Charlotte County’s mosquito treatment schedule is available online at charlottecountyfl.gov. Their treatment schedule is updated daily by afternoon once they determine which areas require immediate attention. The treatment schedule posted is a planned schedule which may be delayed or rescheduled due to weather. The county is divided into ground zones, units and sections, and color-coded by map. The north end of Gasparilla Island is identified by Map ID 20 and was most recently logged as treated by ground spray June 13 at sunset.

Call the Charlotte County Public Works Mosquito & Aquatic Weed Control Division at (941) 764-4370.