Larvicide program aims to decimate College Park's mosquito population
Lakes, abandoned pools and other standing bodies of water are prime breeding grounds for mosquitos. The Maryland Department of Agriculture designated many lakes to be sprayed with larvicide. (Caleb Winter/The Black Explosion)
The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s mosquito control program enters its final stage this month as it continues reducing mosquito breeding grounds in College Park.
In early spring, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the City of College Park, began treating standing water with larvicide, stopping mosquito larvae from reaching adulthood.
Along with treating bodies of water, the MDA has sprayed multiple areas to stop further breeding.
Mosquito reduction will prevent mosquito-borne illnesses in the cities’ citizens, pets and livestock, according to the MDA’s program brief. The program has been running since early May and is expected to run through September.
The MDA has designated personnel to survey different city areas using traps and mosquito landing rates. If mosquito landing thresholds are met, personnel will begin to spray the areas on Wednesday nights.
Along with the College Park area, the mosquito program is also being implemented in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Prince George’s, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St. Mary’s and Talbot counties.
Jessica Hackett, the MDA’s director of communications, reports that the program notices evidence of falling morbidity rates in Maryland.
“West Nile virus is very cyclical. In 2018, the state had 45 cases, which is a lot for Maryland, but that rate was still lower than surrounding states. Since then, Maryland's rates have been lower than surrounding states but no state had a large number, less than 30, of cases,” said Hackett.
Todd Waters, the University of Maryland’s agricultural lab technician supervisor, agrees that mosquitoes have become a prevalent problem to public health, but he also welcomes their importance in sustaining ecosystems.
“Their larvae serve as an essential food source for countless other organisms and only a small fraction of mosquito species bite humans,” said Waters.
Along with feeding other organisms, mosquitoes are known to be great pollinators. According to the United States Forest Service, Aedes communis, better known as a snow pool mosquito found in the United States, Canada and Alaska, is an important pollinator of orchids.
In order to avoid contact with mosquitoes, the MDA suggests dressing in light-colored clothes with long sleeves and long pants, along with draining any standing water that could host mosquito larvae.