Just when summer was starting...Mosquitoes!

Mosquitoes have been around for over 30 million years feasting on warm blooded mammals like you and I. They are experts at finding us via a battery of sensors as we give off carbon dioxide (CO2) when we breathe and lactic acids when we sweat. The female mosquito can detect these gases from over 100 feet away. They also detect heat and contrasts with the background such as a light colored shirt against a dark colored surface and when you move they are quick to move as well.

Mosquitoes do not feed on blood. The male and female actually feed on flower nectar, juices, and decaying matter for flight energy. The female mosquito is the one that you will experience a bite from. She requires a blood meal for the development of her eggs.

The female lands on your skin and sticks her proboscis into you (the proboscis is very sharp and thin, so you may not feel it going in). Her saliva contains proteins (anticoagulants) that prevent your blood from clotting. She sucks your blood into her abdomen to give proteins and iron to her eggs. After she has bitten you, some saliva remains in the wound. The proteins from the saliva evoke an immune response from your body. The area swells (the bump around the bite area is called a wheal), and you itch, a response provoked by the saliva. Eventually, the swelling goes away, but the itch remains until your immune cells break down the saliva proteins.

Mosquitoes can carry many types of diseases that are caused by bacteria, parasites or viruses. These include Malaria, Dengue Fever, Encephalitis (There are several types of encephalitis that can be transmitted by mosquitoes, including St. Louis, Western equine, Eastern equine, La Crosse and West Nile. West Nile encephalitis is on the rise in the eastern United States, which has raised concerns about mosquito control).

You can protect yourself by using a mosquito repellant that contains NN-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) at a concentration of 7.5 percent to 100 percent. Lower concentrations are sufficient for most outdoor protection, and a 15-percent concentration is recommended for children.

Mosquitoes need water to breed and will use any source of standing water. They only need a week or two to develop from egg to flying adult. So, to reduce the mosquito population, eliminate sources of standing water in your yard. Empty watering cans, remove old tires and cover rain barrels. If you have a lily pond in your garden, stock it with some fish that will eat mosquito larvae. Also, to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home, make certain that all of your window screens are intact.

Should you have an area that stays consistently wet then seek a professional to drain the area or set up control measures to reduce the mosquito population. We will never eliminate mosquitoes, however, we can control then to some degree in our living spaces.

Bed Bugs

PermaTreat Pest Control, represented by David Price, Director of Commercial Services, was among over 200 attendees at the Bed Bug Summit held in Crystal City under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency pulled together stakeholders from Federal, State and Local Public Health and Environmental agencies along with leading researchers, scientists and representatives from the private sector. The attendees were split into working groups and tasked to propose solutions and legislation.

The common thread amongst all working groups was early detection is paramount and to use a Pest Management Professional in verifying the evidence and/or insect and to perform the treatment.

Description:

Bed bugs are small, oval, wingless insects that reach about 1/4 inch in length. They have flat bodies and are reddish brown in color. They do not develop wings and cannot fly.

Bed bugs feed by sucking blood from humans or animals.

Where are they found?:

Bed bugs can live in any area of the home and can reside in tiny cracks in furniture as well as on textiles and upholstered furniture. They tend to be most common in areas where people sleep and generally concentrate in beds, including mattresses, box springs, and bed frames. Other sites include curtains, the corners inside dressers and other furniture, cracks in wallpaper (particularly near the bed), and inside the spaces of wicker furniture.

Since bed bugs can live for months without feeding, they can also be found in vacant homes.