special district<\/a> <\/b>financed by its own property tax.<\/p>\nIt means mosquito control methods and budgets can vary widely across a state where about 90 mosquito species live.<\/p>\n
Not all mosquitoes bite us<\/p>\n
In Pinellas, workers return daily with the traps and spread the dead insects on a piece of paper. With tweezers, they parse through what resembles a mound of fake eyelashes, counting and documenting the mosquitoes by hand. <\/p>\n
Only some mosquitoes carry diseases. In Pinellas County, there are 40 species of mosquitoes but just 17 that officials say pose a serious concern. <\/p>\n
![\"Mary](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg "\\"Mary")
Mary Bolton, an entomology assistant trainee, examines a pile of black salt marsh mosquitoes. Lab staff obtains certification to identify adult mosquitoes and their larvae. [\u00a0DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times\u00a0]<\/p>\n
Mosquito control can calculate how many mosquitoes land on a person in a minute. When it reaches <\/b>around <\/b>10, then <\/b>there\u2019s likely a problem, said Alissa Berro, director of Pinellas County Vegetation Management and Mosquito Control.<\/p>\n
Some staff are so accustomed to bites that they\u2019ve developed an immunity to mosquito saliva, which can cause itchy, splotchy marks, said Caroline Scott, a senior environmental specialist for Pinellas County.<\/p>\n
But not all mosquitoes bite people. Some take their \u201cblood meals\u201d (the unfortunate way researchers describe how <\/b>mosquitoes feed) from birds, reptiles or even leeches, Berro said. The bloodsuckers <\/b>are all female. <\/p>\n
Trapping and identification is crucial for mosquito control to measure populations and plan how to handle them.<\/p>\n
What to know about mosquito-borne illnesses<\/p>\n
The mosquitoes that officials typically look out for are the ones that carry diseases, like malaria, dengue or West Nile, among others.<\/p>\n
Thanks to mosquito control and air-conditioned homes, these diseases have become uncommon in the state.<\/p>\n
A group of Red Star hens mill around in a holding coop at Pinellas County Mosquito Control in Clearwater. [\u00a0DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times\u00a0]<\/p>\n
However, <\/b>one virus has caught the attention of Kristi Miley, a researcher at the University of South Florida. <\/p>\n
Dengue cases have more than tripled in the state over the past five years.<\/p>\n
From about 2010 to 2018, there were about 800 cases <\/b>in which someone was bitten elsewhere but found to be sick in Florida, and about 100 in which someone was bitten in the state. From 2019 to 2024, travel-related cases increased to more than 3,000, and locally acquired cases jumped to more than 400. That <\/b>rise could be higher considering that last year\u2019s data may not be complete, Miley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is starting to be concerning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pasco County saw 11 cases of travel-related dengue and 13 cases of locally acquired dengue in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cDengue is no longer a travel-related issue,\u201d said Adriane Rogers, executive director of Pasco County Mosquito Control District, in an email to the Times. <\/p>\n
Dengue has four different strains. If a person is infected with one strain, they may experience flu-like symptoms. If they are infected with a different strain later on, their immunity for the virus is lower and, in rare cases, they can die.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rise in local cases means we all have a role to play \u2014 from public health officials and clinicians to everyday residents,\u201d <\/b>Rogers said, adding that mosquito-borne diseases often go unreported. <\/p>\n
Miley and her team are creating a model that predicts the risk of dengue in Florida based on weather factors and land use. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, you have this risk model that potentially could be offered to mosquito control as a way to be more proactive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Jars at Pinellas County Mosquito Control in Clearwater contain mosquitoes trapped from different parts of the county. [\u00a0DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times\u00a0]<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult because there is no uniform reporting of mosquito populations across the state. Miley relies on mosquito programs to offer their data. <\/p>\n
Mosquito control officials in Florida meet annually to discuss trends and methodologies, and they often collaborate when an outbreak is occurring across county lines. <\/p>\n
But mosquito control programs are ultimately silos, Miley said. <\/p>\n
How mosquito control districts treat mosquitoes<\/p>\n
In Tampa Bay, there\u2019s typically a layered approach to attacking mosquitoes. The easiest and most effective way is getting to them before they can fly.<\/p>\n
When they\u2019re flying, \u201cthey\u2019re hard to trap, and they\u2019re also biting people and possibly spreading disease,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
Mosquitoes need water to breed. Without it, they can\u2019t thrive.<\/p>\n
Most mosquito control programs breed mosquito-eating fish and give them out to the public for free. The fish, aptly named mosquitofish, have spoon-shaped mouths that can suck up the larvae wriggling on the water\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n
Mosquito larvae swim in an observation dish under a microscope. The larvae are observed to identify the species, their stage of development and the efficacy of larvicides. [\u00a0DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times\u00a0]<\/p>\n
Mosquito officials also use larvicides and insecticides to target the insects. They often rear the bugs in-house to test their resistance levels, sometimes at state labs. <\/b><\/p>\n
Mosquito control officials in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco also respond to public requests to fight mosquito populations. <\/p>\n
There are certain criteria, like a high number of mosquitoes found in an area, before mosquito officials can spray a larger area than a requested home or business, Berro said. <\/p>\n
Officials use people, vans or even helicopters to treat areas where mosquitoes have become an issue. <\/p>\n
Mary Bolton prepares chunks of dry ice for mosquito traps. The dry ice attracts mosquitoes, which are drawn to the carbon dioxide in human and animal breath. [\u00a0DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times\u00a0]Florida\u2019s weather is a mosquito\u2019s paradise<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s warm weather means mosquitoes can survive through the seasons. Heat combined with rainfall can influence a mosquito\u2019s life cycle.<\/p>\n
In the summer, mosquitoes can go from egg to adult in three to five days. In the winter, it could take a week or longer.<\/p>\n
The average lifespan of an adult mosquito can be anywhere from two weeks to two months, Scott said. <\/p>\n
And climate change is extending warmer weather seasons, allowing mosquito populations to thrive longer.<\/p>\n
Hurricanes can also prolong <\/b>mosquitoes\u2019 active time, dumping more rain and leading to more standing water. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen <\/b>a vast increase in these extreme weather patterns, and the last couple of hurricane seasons have left a lot of debris,\u201d Miley said.<\/p>\n
Storm debris can sit out for weeks, providing a perfect breeding ground. That\u2019s why experts say it\u2019s so important to drain standing water.<\/p>\n
Eradicating mosquitoes is not the goal, Rogers said. Some populations are pollinators or food sources for other animals. Instead, mosquito control seeks to keep dangerous populations at bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a delicate balance,\u201d Rogers said. <\/p>\n
The effort to hold back mosquito populations in Florida is massive. There is no silver bullet, Rogers said. <\/p>\n
Instead, there are myriad methods, from complex science and expensive equipment to the sentinel chickens \u2014 still oblivious to their role in the persistent battle. <\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/b><\/p>\n
Times staff writer Gabrielle Calise contributed to this report. <\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Times launched the Environment Hub in 2025 to focus on some of Florida\u2018s most urgent and enduring challenges. You can contribute through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEARWATER \u2014 The girls were squawking. One bawk turned into a chorus of squeals. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen them…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[210,11078,16602,1150,39530,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-53061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-section-environment","10":"tag-section-florida","11":"tag-section-news","12":"tag-section-weather","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114826795424525516","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}