Green solutions for mosquito control

Dr. Cisse Spragins, founder and CEO, Rockwell Labs

Residential mosquito barrier treatments are a growing business, and there is even faster growth in the green segment of the market. Fortunately, effective green solutions are available. Botanical oil-based products are a great option, as they work in three ways by killing adults, repelling adults and killing larvae.

Extended residual activity can be a challenge with botanicals; however, spray residual can be extended with the addition of an adjuvant. Granule and wettable dust formulations offer extended residual thanks to the time release of oils from the granule or powder.

For an effective program, spray barrier areas, and apply granules or wettable dust to the most likely breeding areas to make these areas unattractive as breeding sites. Treatments can be augmented with ovi-positioning, bucket-type traps that attract females as a place to breed and then physically capture them or kill them with a pesticide. Or for the best of both worlds, tank-mix botanical spray with a synthetic pyrethroid to provide longer residual than either product used alone. The botanical will provide fast knockdown and strong repellency, and help extend the activity of the synthetic pyrethroid.