MILFORD, DE.- The Delaware Department of Natural Resources Mosquito Control Section is encouraging residents to sign up for the First State's new spray notification system to receive alerts about mosquito treatment in their area.
Mosquitoes and their bites can be annoying to people like Brittany Gibson of Seaford, who hates the pesky insects.
"I really do not like mosquitoes at all; I hate when they bite you," Gibson said. "Of course, they itch, and you get welps."
K.C. Conaway, the regional manager for Delaware's Division of Fish and Wildlife Mosquito Control Section, tells WBOC mosquitoes are prevalent in the First State. Given a lot of the rainfall, Delawareans are experiencing a "very active season."
"Delaware has tons of breeding habitat," Conaway said. "We've got tons of salt marshes, so all these things play into the picture of mosquitoes."
The growing population of Asian tiger mosquitoes is of particular concern with artificial container habitats. The Asian tiger mosquito is an aggressive, daytime biter distinguished by its white stripes on a black body. Asian tiger mosquitoes lay eggs in and hatch from buckets, tarps, flower pots, tires, rain gutters, corrugated pipes (especially those connected to downspouts) and even bottle caps - anything around your yard that can collect water.
Conaway said crews have been treating areas across Delaware for weeks, using two pesticides: one to kill adult mosquitoes and the second to kill larva before they hatch.
The spray treatments are released by plane, helicopter and fog trucks in spray zones. The zones are divided into more than 200 areas on a map. Only a portion of the zones will be treated, according to Conaway. Residents can type in their address to locate their zones via DNREC's
website. Then, sign up for treatment notifications using their zone.
"This new system will allow us to provide a much more real-time notification in a smaller area than in the past," said Conaway, who explained that residents once received notifications about spray events happening across the state.
If you can't eliminate the mosquitoes from your area, remember to protect yourself from mosquito bites by avoiding outdoor activities during peak mosquito times (dusk to dawn), wearing long sleeves and long pants, and/or properly using mosquito repellent.
To help the Mosquito Control Section determine when and where to provide its free, reliable and effective control services, or to request mosquito control service, please report intolerable numbers of biting mosquitoes as below:
· New Castle County and northern Kent County from Dover north, including Dover, Little Creek, Kitts Hummock and Hartly, call Mosquito Control's Glasgow office at 302-836-2555.
· Remainder of southern Kent County and all of Sussex County, including Marydel, Camden-Wyoming, and Magnolia, call Mosquito Control's Milford office at 302-422-1512.
Advance public notice of when and where spraying will occur is given daily by visiting the Mosquito Control Section's Spray Information webpage at
http://de.gov/mosquitospray. You may also subscribe to receive email notices about spray applications through the Delaware Notification System. Instructions for registering with the system to access the Mosquito Control Section's Spray Zone Notification System (SZNS) are also available on the Spray Information webpage.
For additional information about Delaware's Mosquito Control program, please visit the Division of Fish & Wildlife's Mosquito Control Section website or call 302-739-9917.
