Good morning, everybody, and thank you for coming.
We're going to look at mosquito
and tick management today.
What we want to do is really
help people
understand mosquitoes and ticks
and their [lifecycles].
We want you not to be afraid of what
they are and to be comfortable outside.
We have a number of different reasons
why we're doing this, and mostly it's
the more you understand about
mosquitoes and ticks' [lifecycles]
and the best way to control them,
this will be a better way for you to
manage the issue and feel
comfortable being outdoors. At the same time,
some of the common controls that
are pushed for mosquito and tick
management can be very damaging to our
native pollinators and beneficial
insects and actually have a
very detrimental effect on the
environment and our ecosystems that
we have to be very concerned about.
In many of those cases, these
treatments aren't terribly
effective. There are much better
and much safer ways. This is
extremely important because our insect
populations are really under threat.
There have been numerous studies in the
last few years showing a fairly
substantial decline in insect populations.
One study last year looking at a
variety of different studies estimated
that insect populations over the
last 30 years have declined by about 41 percent.
For example, a few bumblebee
species have gone extinct.
Insects are really a crucial cornerstone
to our ecosystems.
E. O. Wilson, who's a noted
environmentalist, noted that insects are
"the little things that run the world."
We really can't live without the insects.
They pollinate our food. They also help
decompose organic materials and
return them to the earth. So we really
have to be thinking about what we're
doing and how it relates to the
broader ecosystems. Generally,
we want you to be outside. We want
you to enjoy the outdoors, and there's
lots of ways you can do that while [not
resorting to] pesticides. So starting with mosquitoes,
there are about 3000 different species,
40 of which are in Virginia.
They live in a variety of
different habitats. They are an aquatic
animal; they develop mostly in or near
stagnant water. It's only the adult
female that actually
bites humans, and humans aren't
necessarily the hosts. We just happen
to be convenient and around. Largely,
they do it because they need protein
in order to produce their eggs. They're not
very generally active below 50 degrees
and actually prefer temperatures above 70.
They can live
about two to three months. If they
hibernate during the winter, they can live
up to six to eight months.
Of course, with rising temperatures
as we face a
changing climate, there is the potential for these
females to survive over the winter.
Plus there is a longer period of time in
which they can reproduce and increase on
your property, as well as increasing the
range in which certain mosquitoes can live.
So it is an issue that poses
various concerns. In some cases,
they are vectors for disease.
Culex mosquitoes are one of
the common mosquitoes within Virginia.
There are two particular ones. They're tiny and brown, and
they're not very aggressive.
They're the kind of mosquitoes that you
don't notice until you've already been bitten.
They have a range of a
half mile to two miles, so
they're going to come from outside [your yard].
They like stagnant water, particularly
somewhat dirty water. They have been
associated as a vector for
West Nile Virus.
The Culex is more
active during dawn and dusk.
Then you have the Tiger Mosquito which is
the nuisance mosquito. It tends to
fly and bite during the daylight hours.
It likes cleaner man-made
structures for it to reproduce.
It has a range of about
600 yards, so if you think about the size
of your house and property versus how
much these mosquito controls cover, that
individual control is not likely to have
much impact. It is a vector for a number
of different diseases,
although it's not as effective a
transmitter as the Aedes aegtpti
which I'll speak about next.
This is another mosquito that we worry about.
This is very similar,
kind of a cousin. It is the primary
transmitter of dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.
[Those diseases] have to be in the
environment for them to transfer, so these
mosquitoes are not necessarily
vectors of such diseases.
I'm stopping right now as I've
covered some of the basics of mosquitoes
that we face in this area. So if there's
any questions, Leslie? [Leslie] You've got the
questions rolling in, and some of them
you're going to cover later.
We had
somebody asking if garden ivy can harbor
mosquitoes because their neighbor has
lots of it. [Joan] We will be handling that
later.
[Leslie] Along the same lines
which you're probably covering,
somebody else has corrugated pipes
underground. They were wondering if
that's something that needs to be
replaced in order to get rid of it.
[Joan] Possibly. It depends on if it's going to be
holding water. Underground is a little bit
different than above-ground; but again
we'll cover that in a minute.
We have a lot of people asking
question about sprays, so I think that's
probably all right, and somebody did
ask if we have Master Gardeners and
Master Naturalists who have
 double trained, and
you are, in fact, an example of somebody
who has done that. [Joan] Actually, I'm not. I've done
a number of other different things, but I'm
not a Master Naturalist. We have
many Master Gardeners who are also
Master Naturalists. [The two certifications] tend to be
related.. [Leslie] We had a
couple more questions about stagnant
water and safety and if there's any safe
sprays, so I think maybe if that's coming up,
we'll move along. [Joan] That'll be coming up.
So, to look
at the lifecycle of mosquito.
Essentially, the females will overwinter
in a tree, and as the weather warms up
again they can be active at
50 degrees. But
they become much more active when
the temperatures reach over 70 degrees.
As they come out of hibernation they
will lay their eggs.
Before they can do so, they'll need that
blood feeding. They
lay eggs in stagnant water, and then
it takes about seven days
for them to go through the whole cycle.
The eggs hatch within two or three days,
and then you have four larval stages,
a pupal stage, and then they
emerge as adults during the last stage.
Again, it's about seven to ten days.
They mate, the female gets a blood meal,
and then the cycle repeats itself.
It can repeat at least
twice during a season, sometimes even more,
especially as we're hitting
these longer seasons, higher temperatures.
That's an increasing issue.
Warmer winters
also means you have larger populations
that survive through the winter.
Lots of different
breeding habitats. More natural habitats
would be ditches and flood waters,
any artificial containers, marshes.
What we're looking at is
temporary bodies of water that are
seasonal. It really only
takes one tablespoon of water for a
mosquito to lay her eggs and for them
to develop. So it doesn't take
much; you have to be really vigilant.
Any permanent body of water
is actually going to attract a
lot of predators, such as fish, toads,
frogs, dragonflies. So, it's seasonal,
very temporary seasons. When we
look at our own yards, we're creating
an awful lot of these types of
environments, and the key to really
controlling mosquitoes is to control any
standing water within your property.
Again, think anything as much as a
tablespoon. A cap from a soda bottle
is enough. So things like
saucers of pots, bird baths.
Bird baths can be emptied every few days.
We're talking about a lifecycle of
seven to ten days, so if you're
emptying out any standing water every
four or five days, you will keep
reducing the amount of potential
breeding areas.
Make sure your gutters are clean because
they'll hold water.
Children's toys, tarps, all sorts of
things that we have there.
It takes a walk around the yard
on a regular basis. We've had some
rain yesterday and more rain coming in
over the weekend, so as that starts to
clear out, it's a good time to go out and
look at where the standing
water is to get rid of that.
Man-made artificial containers are
excellent [breeding areas].]
You can get rid of the saucers of pots, and
then you don't have to really worry
about that.
We had a question about corrugated pipes.
So if there's any entrance,
if it's underground where the
mosquitoes might come in, that might be
an issue. If it's above-ground it becomes
particularly problematic
because the water will
actually stay on the top of that. So you
can either cut little holes in all those
little [indentations] or just replace them with
something that's smooth and not going
to collect. So we've talked about
lots of different ways
of controlling them.The key thing is is
actually getting rid of those areas
where mosquitoes are going to breed,
which is standing water, and keeping an
eye on where they actually are to eliminate them.
There are a lot of mosquito controls which
we can walk through very quickly:
biological controls,
environmental ways of excluding
mosquitoes, and
then, as really only the last resort, is
the consideration of chemicals.
First, there are some
biological controls. If you have a pond
then there are a couple of fish,
especially the mosquito fish, which will
eat the mosquito larvae. So you can
stock it with
that type of fish and that will
be self-control. If it's a
permanent body, you may likely attract
dragonflies where the larvae will eat mosquitoes.
Frogs and toads do as well.
Biting midges do, and finally there's
something called Bti,
which is a larvicide which attacks the
larvae of mosquitoes and anything
in the fly family. So it's very limited;
it does not do any damage.
It's usually sold under the name of "Mosquito Dunks."
There are also bits and granules that you
can put into any areas where you
have standing water that you're not able
to drain on a regular basis. If you're
using the dunk, you might want to
put it in something like an old  stocking
in order to be able to pull it
out and [check]. It will last for
thirty days or more, so you can
kind of keep track of it. You need to
know when you need to replace it.
That could be something like a rain barrel
if you don't have a really good
screen that's keeping the mosquitoes out.
For smaller areas where the dunks are too
large, you can try the bits and granules.
This is very effective. It's very safe;
it does not harm fish;
it doesn't harm other types of insects.
So it's very selective, but
it has to be there to get at the
larval stage of mosquitoes.
Protecting yourself is the key
thing when you're outside. If you can,
wear long pants, long sleeves,
coverings on your hats.
Netting if you're out camping. Screens,
of course, for porches so you can
sit outside
And most importantly,
try using the skin repellents.
They are extremely effective.
DEET at 25 to 30% will
work very effectively, as will Picardin
at 20%, oil of lemon eucalyptus (a natural product), which is
the essential oil that has been
proven to be quite effective against
mosquitoes and also generally against
ticks as well. Then there's ir3535,
a Merck product, which is
actually the underlying [ingredient] in Skin So Soft.
Not every mosquito repellent
is quite as effective as the
others, and from research that Consumer
Reports does, things like using a
mosquito wipe or lotion may not
be as effective as some of the sprays.
A good resource to look at is Consumer
Reports because they do an annual
summary of what the most
effective mosquito repellents are.
I encourage people to go ahead and
check that when they're looking to
buy mosquito repellents. Does
that answer some of the questions we have?
Were there additional questions
related to protecting yourself and
reducing mosquito populations? [Leslie]
One of the ones that came up was:
Do dunks make rain
barrel water that you're using on plants
that you eat unsafe? So if you're using
dunks in your rain barrel and then you're
watering plants that you eat, is that safe?
[Joan] The dunks shouldn't effect that;
they're not harmful to humans, although I
think I've seen some reporting
to be maybe a little leery of using
water from your rain barrel for food products
primarily because
[rain collects] whatever
pollutants that may have settled on
your roof in the
rain barrel. So you might want to use a
little caution on using that. But the
dunks [themselves]
shouldn't really affect [the water].
[Leslie] Someone was asking if could they
sprinkle bits under bushes and shrubs,
and, similarly, somebody else was asking
can you use dunks in your gutters? [Joan]
If you're going to have standing water in your gutters,
you can use it. I don't know
that it would make much sense
underneath bushes and shrubs unless,
again, you're seeing standing water
that's standing there for more than than
seven days. Actually, if you've got
that type of situation, you've got a
drainage issue, and you might want to
look at ways of reducing that standing water.
[Leslie] Do dunks harm amphibians? [Joan] No, they
are very selective, so they only
affect mosquito larvae, as well as
larvae of flies and related insects. [Leslie]
Somebody asked with the kiddie pools,
does it help to add salt or mint
oil to the pool water instead of having
to dump the water out every four or
five days? Have you heard of using mint oil
or salt to deter them? [Joan] I haven't
heard of that. Kirstin, have you heard of
anything of that nature? [Kirsten] No. Are we talking about wading pools
for children to play in? [Leslie] Kiddie pools.
[Kirsten] I would say that you need to dump
that water out and replace it on a weekly basis if you are
having problems with mosquitoes.
[Leslie] Someone asked if mosquito traps work.
I don't know if they're thinking bug zappers
or what specifically. [Joan] Most of the
things sold as the insect trappers
or mosquito trappers don't tend
to work.
Mosquitoes are attracted by CO2,
so actually if you have a CO2 [device],
you're actually going to bring more
mosquitoes to you rather than
necessarily getting rid of them.
[Leslie] Other people were asking about safe sprays
to use or natural mosquito repellents.
So, for personal use, is
citronella effective, and is there a
natural mosquito repellent
that you would recommend for use on yourself?
[Joan] Oil of lemon eucalyptus is the
only one that has been tested and proven
to be effective, especially over a period
of time. Most of those others are
often sold, but the testing, at least that
Consumer Reports has done, [has shown] that
they're not particularly effective.
Any repellent properties
tend to wear out within a
half hour or so, so that doesn't really
serve the purpose. If you're
looking for a natural product,
you really want oil of lemon
eucalyptus for something that's been
proven effective. In general, most of
those essential oils have not really
proven to be good repellents.
[Leslie] We're having more questions about
mosquitoes being harbored in ivy,
bamboo, magnolia leaves. Are any of those
particularly problematic or not
problematic?
[Joan] I think we'll talk about it a little
later, but English ivy in particular has
been seen to be problematic
because it's got that really thick leaf,
and it creates highly humid conditions,
so it may be creating an attractive
harbor for some mosquitoes. Now my
understanding is that the Culex
mosquitoes actually tend to spend time
up in the tops of trees as opposed to
along the ground. [Kirsten] I'd like to come back
to a question that was about mosquito traps.
There is a form of a trap that can
be constructed using a moisture source
and screens. It is available commercially.
There are also YouTube videos on how
to build them. They basically involve attracting
mosquitoes to standing and still, stale,
old water where they are then encouraged to
lay their eggs. The eggs hatch
in the water, and then when the larvae
turn into adult, they cannot escape from
the screened-in lower level where the
waters is. It's kind of an interesting way
to do it. I don't recommend them because
essentially they work the way Japanese beetle
traps do, by drawing mosquitos to the property. [Joan[
Another recommendation that has been
made is actually doing something similar
but putting in the dunks or mosquito bits,
and that will kill the larvae. But
you're also going to be attracting mosquitoes,
so if you do it, you'll want to put it
someplace that's out of the way of where
you may be sitting or playing or
gardening. [Leslie] We'll
continue on, and then we'll go back and
address more questions. I do want to
let folks know that this is being
recorded, and the recording will be
available online probably about two
weeks after this presentation is done.
I again remind you that on our MGNV.ORG
website we have an excellent mosquito
and tick resource page that will cover a
lot of the same material that Joan is
presenting to you today. [Joan]
The PowerPoint of this presentation is
on our resource page as well.
Now we'll turn to
adult mosquito control, which is
essentially using non-selective insecticides.
Public health officials
may actually, as a last resort,
look to using spraying.
What they're going to do is
going to be based on mosquito
surveillance data so they know actually
where the infected populations of
mosquitoes are breeding and
target those breeding habitats rather
than doing something fairly broad based.
That approach
is the last resort, and it
should be done in conjunction
with other processes that
will eliminate the breeding sites.
We do know that there are a lot
of people that are looking at using
mosquito adulticides on their own
properties through the various different
commercial vendors. Primarily
they're going to be using pyrethroids
which are often presented as being
natural products because the pyrethroids
are actually derived from
chrysanthemums. But it is a toxin.
It's broad-spectrum; it kills anything.
And most of the products are
often synthesized versions of that.
They've also been enhanced so that they
will last longer on plants and in
the environment and therefore can have
more long-lasting impact on the
mosquitoes, whether targeted or not.
[They actually have] less impact on mosquitoes and
more on the insects that are more
likely to visit plants
that the residue is remaining on.
It is low toxicity to you, to mammals
and birds, although usually after spraying
you'll see the sign about keeping
off children and pets, so that tends to
raise [concerns]. Organophosphates are
another one that's actually used.
It's very highly toxic to honeybees in
particular. It's sprayed,
its non-selective, and it's more
likely to do more damage to
other insects than it is to mosquitoes.
It has to hit the insects
in order to kill them.
The residue is going to be on plants
where you're not necessarily going to
have mosquitoes but instead you'll have
other insects, such as bees, visiting
flowers on plants that have been
treated with the products.
Again, thinking if it's one yard [that has been treated],
mosquitoes have a range anywhere
from six hundred yards to up to two
miles, so over a short
period of time they're going to be
coming back. [The treatment] is limited.
There has actually been increasing
information, both observational and
research, that indicates that consistent
spraying for mosquitoes is in fact
reducing the amounts of beneficial
insects. There are certainly a lot of
anecdotal reports of people saying where
they've seen spraying that they're
now seeing much less in the way of
birds and insects and pollinators, as
well as an increase in some scale type
disease. Scale as an insect that will
attack various different plants. That's an effect [of treatment].
You get rid of the beneficial insects
that are going to attack some of
the ones that are pests and
damaging to your ornamental plants
and even your vegetable crops.
There's this cascading impact of spraying.
[I have] even heard cases of where
companies will come out and spray, and it
just wipes out an entire
honeybee hive of neighbors. So you know
that it is highly [toxic]. If using
a commercial [applicator], you want
to go with somebody that's licensed in
pest management. They should be
presenting you with an integrated pest
management plan, which is more than just
coming out and periodically spraying,
but actually looking at the sources
of breeding areas and helping
eliminate standing water in the breeding areas.
Make sure you look at several
proposals and compare them and check
their reputations for quality. If they're
going to be spraying over any water areas,
they do actually require a permit
to do so. If you have any concerns about
pesticide applicators, you can report
them to the Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services.They
take reports of misuse of pesticides
very seriously, so that's
something to keep in mind.
Something to [consider] in protecting
pollinators is that if you're
applying pesticides, you don't want to do
it when pollinators are active. You don't
want to do it on flowering plants where
pollinators are visiting.
There are going to be residual chemicals that
can last for hours, even up to a couple of days.
You [should] avoid any type of draught.
So [don't spray on] windy days,
hot days, or when rainy weather is predicted.
[Spraying] before rain is kind of
pointless because it's going to be
quickly washed away again. [The pesticide]
probably ends up polluting more of
our water resources than it does in
terms of dealing with the [pests].
The more effective way to [control mosquitoes] is
to make sure you're getting rid of those
standing areas of water or using
larvicides.
As mentioned, somebody
asked the question about mosquito-friendly plants,
[such as] dense ivy.
Maybe there's not a whole
lot of research on it, but it does [make sense]
that mosquitoes are going to like cover.
[Ivy] has got nice humid areas.
If they're underneath the ivy, they're not
going to be hit by [pesticide applications].
The other thing you
can do when you're outside is just put
up a fan. Mosquitoes are really weak fliers,
so a fan is going to
actually keep them away. You can sit
outside and enjoy, and you don't really
have to worry about the mosquitoes.
If you're using sprays, they should be ultra
low volume which is a way
to reduce the amount of drift.
And again, do it when
pollinators are not active.
[There are] lots of different control [methods]
that people sell.
Different things like bug zappers or
propane-driven CO2 mosquito traps aren't
going to be effective against mosquitoes.
All sorts of things like
Listerine, VapoRub, wristbands, ultrasonic [devices]
aren't going to really work.
You have to use
an effective repellant that's been proven.
A lot of people talk about
Citronella and other plants.
Essential oils may have a slight
repellant [effect].
They're nice to have, and there's lots of
other reasons for planting them.
Encouraging bats and Purple Martins
[will not help control mosquitoes].
You can eat all the garlic
you want, but it's not going to keep
mosquitoes away.
Keep in mind that there is a wide
range that mosquitoes travel, so you
have to work with your neighbors to
eliminate breeding sites and sheltering sites.
Encourage your
neighbors on a regular basis to go out
and empty the water, especially after a
period of rain.
Remember the most popular commonly used chemical
for mosquitoes, which is permethrin, is not
selective. It will kill your beneficials
and it can remain in the environment for
a period of time, which increases the
exposure to beneficial insects without
necessarily [providing] any additional control
over the mosquitoes. They do not breed
in moving water, so you can put a
bubbler in either a pond or a birdbath.
Otherwise, just change the water every
three to four days.
Use a fan; you can sit comfortably outside.
It is summer.
You can protect yourself with long pants,
using the effective repellents, and
making sure screens are all intact.
That ends the portion on
mosquitoes, so any final questions that
we have on mosquitoes and mosquito controls?
[Leslie] Yes. You've got questions just
flooding in. There's a lot of
questions about the dunks. People are
concerned about the dunks' effect.
If you put a dunk in a birdbath,
is that a problem? Do they affect
dragonfly larvae? [Syrphid] fly larvae
which are helpful?
[Joan] I don't know about the dragonflies whether
they're in that same family of flies
that could be [affected]. Really
with bird baths, the best thing to do
is actually to change the water every
five days or so. That's actually
better because it keeps the water
cleaner so it'll be better for the birds anyway.
[Leslie] There's some
questions about whether any plants
are effective, specifically as
mosquito repellents. Are there
plantings that you would recommend?
[Joan] I don't think that there's any
research that really indicates that
things like lavender or
citronella or other herbs are
particularly effective at repelling
mosquitoes. There are some other
advantages to having them in the garden,
but they're very limited in
any effectiveness in terms of keeping
away the mosquitoes. [Leslie]
We talked about ivy,
but are there other sorts of plants that are
specifically attractive as
resting places for mosquitoes? Someone
was saying they control extra water in
their yard, but they're still finding
swarms of mosquitoes in their
vegetable garden, even in open ground areas.
[Joan] Well, I think it's
looking to see if there is water standing
somewhere that they might not see.
They're going to be
swarming towards different
water sources more than anything else.
[Leslie] Somebody asked how many
times and how long does one female
mosquito lay eggs for? [Joan] Just once.
That will complete their lifecycle.
The female will die, and
then the new brood will emerge.
[Leslie] Somebody asked if the aerosol permethrin
from a thermal cell device
is toxic. You were saying
permethrin can hurt beneficial insects. Correct?
[Joan] Yes. Permethrin is
toxic to any insects. It's non-selective.
So whatever variation
the permethrin or permethroids are [used,
they're] going to be toxic to insects.
They're believed to have low toxicity
for mammals, including humans, but
I don't think you want to have any
more contact with it than you need.
[Leslie] Somebody was asking about garlic sprays.
Their neighbor uses a garlic spray
next door, and they're wondering if
that's deterring pollinators in their yard.
[Joan] Garlic oil should not be terrible.
From what I've read,
it's not particularly effective as a repellent.
It would be a question
of whether or not there's more than just
garlic in the sprays. Kirsten, do
you know much more about garlic oils?
[Kirsten] The essential oils, the garlic oils,
the cedar oils, and those kinds
of products  -- and I would assume you're
talking about commercial sprays now --
they are not particularly effective. They will repel for a
short period of time, but they
don't stop the mosquitoes from coming back.
[Leslie] There is a lot of concern
when you have neighbors that
hire these mosquito companies
to do the big sprays. Is there
anything you can do to protect your yard
from those sprays?
[Joan] That's a difficult question.
It depends on the application.
If they're doing it properly, they're going to be
pretty targeted, and they're going do it
at the times of day and weather
conditions in which there's less
likely to be drift. But I would not count
on those companies, because I think they
run all day from one house to
the next, putting the spray down.
They're not necessarily going to be
[careful]. So I think it's a matter
of continuing to use
neighborhood social media, to keep
continuing to try to educate neighbors
that this is harmful. There's certainly
been a lot of anecdotal and increasing
research information that indicates that
people are seeing a reduction in
pollinators, and even birds, in their yards
as a result
of what appears to be
indiscriminate spraying that's going on.
[Leslie] I know that article specifically that can
be shared with neighbors to help you
share the education.
[Joan] That's all on our resource page.
There's a number of articles.
We've actually been trying, at least within
Arlington and Alexandria through our
neighborhood groups, Neighborhood
Champions, to get the word out and
keep sending the message that
this indiscriminate spraying is
really harmful to our pollinators
and to the insects that are really
beneficial and that are under threat.
I have to say that I started
doing that in my own neighborhood
through the listserv.
The first time I sent something out telling
people that they need to be
emptying the standing water, the first
question that came back was, "Who is
a good company to come out and spray?"
Since then, actually, I don't
even really generally have to jump in
and say anything when people start
asking questions, because there's a whole
group of other neighbors that are quite
concerned about the issue that keep
pushing the message of the harmfulness
of using the pesticides to our
pollinators. So again, it's just the more
the message gets out, the better.
The more people are working
together to control the breeding habitats
and the mosquitoes, the better off we are.
[Leslie] You have a larger area with no mosquitoes.
Two more questions on mosquitoes for now. Somebody asked if koi
in ponds help control mosquitoes
[Joan] I think they probably eat some of the larvae.
Again, the mosquito fish are often
identified as the best at
eating the mosquitoes.
If she can attract
frogs and toads,
the tadpoles are good, too, because they'll
eat the larvae.
[Leslie] We had a couple questions about screens.
Are screens effective covers
over the corrugated drainpipe exits and
rain barrels? [Joan] Yes, as long as they're
fairly fine mesh, they
should be effective. Again, if there's any
concern, trying to use dunks
within or near where this water is
standing is the second option. I know
some people have expressed concerns that
even with screens that the rain barrels
tend to be a problem.
It's getting that good mesh, making sure
that the screens are not torn
and that there's no opening,
say, around the edges that
the mosquitoes can get into.
[Leslie] Why don't we go ahead, and we'll stop with questions
if folks still have those questions
at the end.
[Joan] Now we turn to ticks; they're
kind of creepy.
We've got five different ticks within Virginia,
and we'll talk in detail about each one
of them in terms of how
to recognize them. They're active mostly
April through September. The adult
Deer Ticks, which are now more commonly
being referred to as the Blacklegged Tick,
can be active any time
temperatures are, say, over 32.
Other common ticks are the American Dog Tick,
Lone Star Tick, and the Brown Tick.
Understanding and recognizing the
different ticks can be useful, especially
in terms of understanding what types of
pathogens may be spread through
different types of iticks.
Different tick-borne diseases are
generally associated with different
types of ticks. We have two newcomers
that are being seen in areas around us.
[We are] on the
lookout because they can become
additional vectors. One is the Asian
Longhorned Tick that we've seen in
about 24 counties in Virginia,
including Fairfax and Fauquier.
So it will be coming to Arlington and
Alexandria no doubt fairly soon.
Then there is the Gulf Coast Tick which
came into Hampton Roads and is being
spotted in areas of Fairfax County.
So these are the ones to keep an eye out for.
In identifying ticks,
there's a lot of different elements
that you can look at to help
distinguish the different ones.
Size is one thing; they tend to be different sizes.
You've got the mouthparts.
Some have short, some have long mouthparts.
Many will have the scutum,
although not every one, and then
there's often going to be some
ornamentation on the back.
Then there's the festoon; some will
have festoons and others may not.
So you've got the festoons. Because they're
so small, it's helpful to have a magnifying
glass and a ruler.
There are a lot of resources online that
you can get to actually help you compare
the differences of different ticks.
Tick size is a key thing. They are
extremely small, and some are smaller
than others. The larvae and the nymphs
are particularly small.
It is often very difficult to
distinguish different types of ticks
when they're at that smaller nymph or
larval stage. Female and male adults
can look somewhat different as well.
So understanding the difference is useful.
In terms of general size, just to
give you a sense,
you can pull out a dime and and see.
These are the sizes that you're likely
dealing with, especially the [Blacklegged] Tick
which runs about three millimeters.
It's the smaller of the ticks that we see around here.
The American Dog Tick is
one that's going to be about five
millimeters long, and it has the
scotum with the decoration, a fairly dark
brown, and it does have a festoon. It has
a smaller mouthpiece. Slight differences
in what the male and the female look like.
The Lone Star Tick gets its
name because the female has this white
spot on the middle; it's not on the male.
It has a longer mouthpart.
It's about five millimeters in length, and
it's got more of a reddish brown color
with the festoons along the sides.
Then you have the Brown Tick,
the Brown or the Brown Dog Tick. Not as
much of a scotum, but a lot of
ornamentation on the back. It is
distinguished from the American Dog Tick;
it's a darker brown, and it
doesn't have any white markings on it.
Short mouthpiece, festoons again are on
this one. Then the Asian
Longhorned Tick. Now this is very
interesting.
It's three to five millimeters, somewhat nondescript,
short mouthpiece. The interesting thing
about this is it actually reproduces
clonally (asexually).
It has mostly been a
problem with livestock, and large
populations can be attached to livestock.
It's much more, at this point,
a problem for the livestock than
necessarily humans.
But it's being watched to determine
whether or not it is a vector for any
kinds of diseases. The Gulf Coast Tick
has this larger mouthpiece.
The scotum is striped, and it
does have the festoons. It's five to six
millimeters, so it's a fairly large
tick, relatively.
Then finally, the Deer Dick or the
Blacklegged Tick. This is the smallest;
it's usually about two to three millimeters
It doesn't have any festoons.
It does have a large mouthpiece, and a
dark scotum, and is reddish to
off-white.
The Deer Tick is is actually the
vector for Lyme disease, so it's one that
we want to track pretty closely.
Then the other distinguishing feature of the
Deer Tick or the Blacklegged Tick, which
is within the Ixodes family, is it has an
anal groove. If you turn it over on the
back side, you'll see a groove over the
anus as opposed to the groove being
underneath for all the other types of
ticks that we've been talking about.
So there are lots of different ways of
distinguishing what ticks
look like. It can be helpful
to identify ticks,
especially if there are any concerns
about diseases. So we'll stop now for any
questions.
We'll go into lifecycle and
controls a little later.
[Leslie] Do ticks bite in
larval and nymph stages?
[Joan] That's part of the lifecycle. [Leslie]
Both females and males? [Joan] Yes.
[Leslie] Can you repeat which ticks specifically
carry Lyme disease? [Joan] That's the
Blacklegged Tick, or it's also known as the
Deer Tick. [Leslie] Somebody
has found that chickens and
guinea hens are particularly effective.
Have you heard about using them as
control measures? if you can have them in
your yard or you have room for them?
[Joan] They're going to eat that type of thing.
I don't know how effective they
are compared to others. The other thing
is opossums will eat ticks as well.
[Leslie] I'm just looking for any other tick questions.
I think I'm going let you get
a little bit further and then we'll come
back to some questions.
So the [tick] lifecycle
starts once the female has laid her eggs.
The first
stage is larval, and then they go into a
nymph stage, and they go through
several nymph stages before becoming adults.
In between each of the different stages,
they're actually going to need a blood meal
in order to go on to [the next stage]
in the [lifecycle]. They can actually go for
months without having a blood meal and
going on to the next stage,
up to a year or longer between different
stages if there is no easy blood meal.
Or [the lifecycle] can go much more quickly, depending
on the sources of food that are available.
Looking at the lifecycle for
the Blacklegged Tick,
the eggs are laid in the spring.
Then the larvae will emerge and usually
look for a fairly small host.
A mouse or a bird during this stage
would be the preferred [host].
Then, as they go into the next stage,
into the nymph stage, to move into an
adult stage, they'll often be looking
for a different larger host.
Humans are not necessarily the
preferred host. We just often tend
to be around. Chances of
infection are actually going to be
greatest in late spring and in summer.
Most of the ticks are
usually going to be active during the
warm months from April to about
September or October. The Blacklegged Tick
or the Deer Tick is actually [active]
any time the temperature is above 32 degrees.
As we're getting warmer winters, we're more likely
to see more activity and longer
seasons for ticks. So the essential
lifecycle is one
driven in part by weather conditions.
Regarding the spread of pathogens, ticks don't necessarily
have those pathogens; they pick them up from
the [animal] hosts that they feed on.
Then, once they go into the next [stage of
their lifecycle] and they need a
second meal, they can
transfer that pathogen on to
the next host. But it's important to
remember that not every tick is going to
be carrying a disease, and not every
attachment actually leads to
transmission of diseases. In fact, it
can often take a little bit of time
for the tick to attach. And then it
can take hours, often 24 hours or longer,
for the transmission of diseases as the
tick will likely feed on the host
for several days before finishing on
its meal and dropping off.
So there are opportunities to
break any cycle and reduce any
transmission of pathogens by just being
vigilant. So again, ticks are mostly
going to be active between April and
September with May, June, and July
being the period where there's most transmission.
There are a lot of things
that people can do to protect themselves.
You can keep your
grasses and underbrush cut somewhat
thinner because what the ticks are
going to do is they generally
live within the leaf litter on the ground,
and when they're ready
for a blood meal to go on to the next stage,
they're going to climb out onto a
branch or grass and then they'll
climb onto any host.
They sense the warmth
of a host coming by and will [climb] on.
They don't actually jump or fly, but
once a host
brushes against them, they can
easily climb on. So it's important to try
to keep to the center of a
trail or walkway so you're not brushing
against weeds or shrubs.
Again, as with mosquitoes, you should
wear long pants and long sleeves. You can
tuck your socks into your pants, which
will prevent the ticks from
actually getting onto your body.
The other thing is wearing light clothes.
That's not going to
actually repel or keep ticks away,
but you can see them very well.
Then the key is, if you've
been out in areas where you think
there have been ticks, check yourself, check
children every four hours in order to
spot and identify ticks before
they've had a chance to transmit diseases.
If you've been out where you know there may be ticks,
throw those clothes into a hot dryer
to kill the ticks. Now warm water
isn't going to kill them. You
really have to [expose them to dry heat].
[Running clothes through a]
hot dryer for twenty minutes
will kill off any ticks. Another
way of preventing and taking care of
ticks is using repellents.
The repellents that are effective
against ticks are the same
types of repellents that you're using [against mosquitoes]:
DEET, Picardin, oil of eucalyptus, and ir3535.
You can treat your boots (I'll talk about
this in just a moment.) with permethrin.
That will will kill off any ticks that
come in, and there are opportunities to
actually purchase clothing
that has been pre-treated. And please, ask
your veterinarians to get controls like
tick collars for pets because
they, too, are susceptible to being
bitten by ticks and contracting
Lyme disease.
There are some reports of DEET toxicity,
 but it's extremely rare.
It's important to apply it very
sparingly; you really don't have to
saturate yourself in order to get
protection. Just getting that light
covering is enough.
High concentrations over thirty percent
aren't more effective.
Don't use it on infants who may be
particularly susceptible, and keep it
away from the palms of your hands so you're not
touching your arms or cuts or wounds.
As a precaution, once you come back inside,
wash off what you treated with
the DEET as you don't need it.
Then there's Permanone,
which is actually permethrin, so it
will kill ticks.
It's for clothes and shoes only, so
don't put it on your skin.
Be very careful in reading the labels. Once you spray
your clothes, you need to wait about two
hours for them to to dry before you can wear them.
That [application] will actually last about
two weeks, even going through the laundry.
It's not absorbed, and it's rapidly
inactivated, so again read the instructions.
There are some
sports stores, like REI, where you can
buy clothing and hats that have been
treated with permethrin and can
go through the laundry
multiple times and still retain their effectiveness.
It's killing rather than actually repelling the insects.
Now, even more [than for mosquitoes],
ticks sprays are really not going to be
very effective within your own yard
because ticks are more likely
to spend most of their time,
except when they're ready for that
blood meal, underneath the leaf litter.
Therefore, they are not going to be touched
by any sprays that might be sprayed to
control them. The key thing is to
manage the habitat around your yard,
particularly
those areas where you're
likely to play or to be doing gardening or
being out and just enjoying the outside.
You want to remove and isolate any brush.
It is often recommended that we
actually have brush piles because
they're beneficial for beneficial
insects like native bees and as habitat
for some of our animals. But you really
want to keep them out of the way in
areas that you're actually not likely to
to be near because they could
be areas for ticks. And one thing you
might think about is, if you have any
Japanese barberry, there are studies that
show that
in areas where it's become invasive (and
it's one of those plants that has been
identified as being particularly
invasive) those areas
actually have a higher
amount of Lyme disease-carrying
Blacklegged Ticks. That's very likely
because the humidity. [The plant] creates a fairly
humid environment underneath, and not
only is it appealing to ticks, but it's
appealing to the mice that are a
natural host for the ticks,
bringing together two potential
pathogen-carrying animals where they can
transmit the disease. So again,
studies have shown that in areas where
this is a very prominent invasive plant,
it actually attracts ticks.
So if you take [Japanese barberry] out of your yard,
you'll help reduce the chance of
it becoming more invasive
within native areas.
It's helpful to actually keep leaves
in some of your garden areas
in order to support insects in general.
But you should keep those leaves
out of areas where you're actually
likely to be playing. Keeping the
grass at about three
inches will reduce habitat for ticks.
You can install a bulk
mulch barrier between your lawns and
wooded areas and around patios and play
equipment because ticks will
stay away from anywhere where they're
out in open. They're really
going to stay in wooded areas where
there's a lot of brush and undergrowth
that they can breed in.
If you can (and it's kind of hard to do),
try to exclude wild animals, which are
the ones that are
going to be bringing in ticks from
outside areas. Deer fences
will need to be about seven feet tall.
It's kind of hard to exclude the wild
animals, but where you have an
opportunity, that might help as well.
Any questions? [Leslie] Yes, we've got some
questions rolling in.
Do ticks fall off trees?
Is being under trees a way that
they can get on you? [Joan] No, they're
not going to be falling off of trees.
They're actually going to be in the
leaf litter underneath trees.
They're actually going to crawl on
to grasses or bushes where they
get up a little bit so that they can
find a host. But most of the time
when they're not looking
for a blood meal they're going to be
underneath in the leaf litter. [Leslie]
I know when I've been running lately I've
been avoiding the grasses that hang over
into the sidewalk so I don't brush
against them, thinking about ticks.
So somebody asked if you could
reduce tick populations by
putting out cotton balls with permethrin so
mice line the nest with them. [Joan] That's
one way to do it, if you've got a
mouse problem. I think it's most
useful where you've got some wooded area
near you. Those [tubes] will actually
give you directions on where you
should put them. That's a fairly
targeted way of addressing ticks
because the mice will gather the
cotton that's treated with permethrin
and use it in their nests.
Then if there are ticks attached to
the mice, that will kill the ticks.
[Leslie] Do birds, specifically robins,
feed on ticks?
[Joan] I don't believe birds generally do.
[Leslie} If ticks come into your house as
larvae on pets, can they grow into adults
in your house? [Joan] There are some
ticks that actually can complete their
lifecycle within a house.
[Kirsten] Generally, the
humidity level is not going to be high
enough inside a home to allow the ticks
to thrive for long. I have heard of
cases where Dog Ticks have come in and
you've had egg hatching inside a home,
but again, unpleasant as that sounds,
they don't like the lack of humidity
inside the home. [Joan] If your pets have been
exposed, and you've seen ticks on them,
you can actually throw their bedding
into a dryer, as well, to kill off the ticks.
[Kirsten] I heard your question earlier
about the eggs, and I believe you said
earlier that the ticks lay their eggs
once in the springtime. Eggs hatch in
the springtime. [Leslie] Will
freezing clothes in the freezer
kill them? [Kirsten] No, I think that the
dryer would be much better.
[Leslie] Does insect guard on clothes work?
[Joan] It depends on
what the underlying chemical is.
If it's permethrin-based that's
designed for it, that would be again a
good way of keeping ticks off
your clothes because it kills ticks that
come in contact. [Leslie] Those sprays
on clothes,
those don't hurt pollinators unless
they're
directly hit by it when you're spraying
it on the clothes, correct? [Joan]  No,
the pollinators aren't
going to be [touching] your clothes.
[Leslie] Someone asked if there's a difference
between eucalyptus oil which they have
heard of and use versus the lemon
eucalyptus that you've mentioned?
[Joan] What I've seen in
Consumer Reports
keeps referring to lemon eucalyptus.
I don't know whether that's basically
the same thing. [Leslie] Will pine needles
work as a mulch barrier between the lawn
and your wood line? [Joan] Yes, anything
that you're using as mulch should work.
[Leslie] Are ticks known to be
carried by squirrels? [Joan] I would think so.
I think mice and some of the
smaller mammals are perhaps more
attractive, but they would go
for deer; they would go for any
warm-blooded animal, anywhere that
they can get a blood meal from,
birds as well. [Kirsten] I read one study that
was done in the UK, of all places, that
suggested that all four of the Borrelia
species that are disease-causing pathogens
were found in up to 12% of the squirrels
that were surveyed. So, yes. [Leslie] A neighbor
uses a spray that's specific to ticks, but
she says it doesn't affect
insects or pets, and the person asked if
that is possible. Her neighbor had Lyme
disease and so is very afraid
of getting it again. [Joan] I'm not aware
of anything that is selective to ticks.
Usually they're going to
be using an adult insecticide. So
they're probably misleading, and
it's really key to understand
what the underlying
chemical is that's being used. [Leslie]
Somebody asked if tick tubes work.
[Joan] Yes, we were just talking about that. Those are
the tubes that contain cotton with
permethrin, so it will
kill some of the ticks that
are being picked up by mice that would
use them for their nests. [Leslie]
Someone was specifically asking (and we'll
take this as our last question for now)
do you like Frontline for dogs? Are the
the chemicals you use on dogs
effective against ticks? [Joan] I believe they are.
I would check with your
veterinarian for what they recommend
that's most effective for pets.
[Leslie] Let's continue on, and we'll come
back to you with some more mosquito
questions at the end.
[Joan] All righty. So if you get a tick,
it's not the end of the world.
It's a little bit creepy, I know.
I'm never thrilled with it myself.
You want to be checking
every day in vegetated areas, and
ask somebody to look at your back
or scalp. If you find a tick, the best
way to remove it is to use
sharp-pointed needle tweezers in order
to grasp the tick at the mouthparts
so you can get it right up against
where it's attached to the skin and
pull it out very gently. What you don't
want to do is rock it back and forth
or use alcohol or even fire on it
or try to crush it, because
essentially what that's going to do is
irritate the tick and it's likely to
regurgitate some of what it's
taking in, and that's actually more
likely to increase any potential spread
of pathogens. Again, checking
daily is pretty important and even
checking your kids every few hours when
they're outside. If you get it within
24 hours, it's less likely that
there'll be any disease transmission
because it's not merely just
that they're feeding.
It takes a while
for them to actually transmit any
pathogens. So once you have removed it,
treat it as any other type of sore
and thoroughly clean it
with soap and water, or you can use
alcohol and iodine. Actually, if
you're out camping or hiking regularly,
you might just carry with you kind
of a tick kit, which would
include some alcohol wipes and tweezers,
as well as perhaps a small vial with
alcohol in case you want
to take the tick for ID. You can put it in
alcohol that will kill it and seal it in
a bag or container. Do be careful,
trying not to touch it with your
hands or crush it. You can flush it down
the toilet. However, if it's still alive,
do it very quickly because they move
very quickly so they're likely to
scramble out fairly quickly.
If you want to ID it,
put it in a bag with some alcohol.
At this point [Cooperative Extension] is not doing any
tick ID because we don't have access to
our office and the microscope that we
need to get a real good look at the tick.
You can take it [to your doctor]
if you develop
symptoms of rash or disease. That might be
useful information.
Make sure you tell your doctor that
you've had a tick bite so that
they will make sure they look into
potential tick diseases in diagnosing.
Tick-borne diseases are
the common vector-borne illnesses in the
United States.
Unfortunately, projections with
climate change are that these types of
diseases are likely to become more
extensive and more pervasive
as the years go by. They happen anywhere
that ticks are found. Again, not all ticks
carry pathogens and
not all ticks with pathogens are going to
transmit these. Tick populations are
particularly populous in the
Northeast (which is New Jersey,
Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts) as
well as the Upper Midwest and the
Pacific areas. They're in every state,
and anywhere you have ticks, there is the
potential for tick-borne disease.
This is where it becomes
important to understand that it does
take time for transmission. For Lyme
Disease
transmitted by the Deer Tick or the
Blacklegged Tick, we're talking
about 36 hours for disease transmission.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
could be shorter, 2 to 20 hours.
As you see with many of these diseases,
they're associated with individual ticks,
and they're also associated with periods
of time which are often more than 24 hours.
So it gives you that time,
if you're checking, so that
you're likely to to prevent it.
Lyme Disease is, of course, one that
we're particularly concerned about.
It's transmitted by the Deer or Blacklegged Tick.
It is in 48 of the 50 states.
As people move and as animals that are carrying it move,
it is carried to
different parts of the country.
70% of people will develop the bullseye rash,
which is the most noticeable first
indication of Lyme Disease. Of course,
not everybody has that rash, but that's
one thing to be looking out for.
It will take 24 to 48 hours [for transmission].
After the rash, there's likely to be flu-like
symptoms. Then some people will
have  -- and we've all heard of different
cases and probably know people --  that have
had those chronic symptoms of arthritis
and nervous system complications,
particularly when it's been
misdiagnosed or hasn't been diagnosed
early enough. Here are some pictures of
what those rashes might look like. Rocky
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever has
tick attachment of about four to six hours.
That's going to be more severe flu-like
symptoms, followed after several days by
a red rash. It needs a blood test
to be confirmed and can be
easily treated if treated early with
antibiotic use. And pictures of what the
rash might look like.
There are many types of symptoms; people
don't always have the same symptoms.
We're certainly not doctors, so
if you're feeling sick, make sure
your doctor knows that you may have had
exposure to ticks so that they can
consider and check out any possible
tick-borne diseases as part of the diagnosis.
Pets can get Lyme disease, too,
so make sure that you go ahead and check
with your vet to get the proper protection.
that you need. Ticks can live
in pets' and human's bedding indoors
for a while, so throw
those into a hot dryer for 20 minutes.
That's going to to kill any ticks
that may have been brought in by your
your pet. So, in summary,
if you're trying to prevent ticks,
avoid those areas where you might have
grasses and leaves and shrubs where they
wait for a host to come.
Repellent is very effective
and wearing proper clothing will keep
them off. Light-colored clothing
will help you make it easier to find ticks.
And check for ticks,
remove them, and use a hot dryer for your clothes.
These are good ways of really
preventing them from attaching
and transmitting diseases.
With pets, use the appropriate
repellents from your veterinarian,
and make sure that they're checked as
you do with your children. Check their
bedding and use the hot dryer.
In yards, for those areas that
you're more likely to spend your time in,
make sure that you keep the grass cut
and you can do barriers of mulch between
wooded areas and lawns.
To the extent that you can, discourage
wildlife that may be carrying ticks.
Lots of resources. All of these are
listed on our website resource page on
mosquitoes and ticks which you can
use to get information about ticks and
mosquitoes and tick-borne diseases.
Our Help Desk
is available where you can send
an email to ask for advice and
information. We're, unfortunately, not able
to help out with identification of ticks
at this point, but resources are there
that can help you identify ticks
on your own.
I think that wraps up the
presentation. So, go out and enjoy.
Taking these precautions will make it
enjoyable while protecting yourself
from mosquitoes and ticks.
[Leslie] Are vitamin B patches on your skin
an effective insect repellent?
[Joan] Not that I've heard of .
[Leslie] When you're coming in,
do you want to put the clothes
straight in the dryer first or wash them first?
[Joan] You can wash them. It's just that
washing them isn't necessarily going to
kill the ticks, so they do
need to go into the dryer. If you
would be washing your clothes normally,
go ahead and run them through the wash
cycle and do that as you come in.
Or you can just throw them in the dryer just to
kill the ticks, and then you can run them
through the wash cycle with your regular wash.
[Leslie] Which is the disease that causes people to
become allergic to beef, and which tick
is that associated with? While you're
finding that, somebody had asked is it
easier to check ticks for Lyme's disease
rather than humans? When people get a tick
bite, they keep it in a jar with alcohol.
Do you have an
opinion on that? [Joan] I think it's just as
easy to check the person because
you may have had more than one tick bite,
and you may have missed one.
So the tick that you saved may not
actually have been the tick that transmitted.
[Leslie] Can ticks
be found in the grassy areas at the beach.
[Joan] Alpha-gal causes the red meat allergy,
and it's transmitted by the Lone Star Tick.
At this point, they don't
know enough about the disease to know
how long it takes to transmit.
We tend to refer that as the
"instant vegetarian disease."
[Kirsten] I have picked up many
Lone Star ticks at the beach in Delaware in
the grassy areas. [Leslie] Should I wipe Picardin
off skin when I'm back in the house?
Does it rub off on furniture?
If you're spraying yourself or your clothes
with an insecticide, what do you recommend?
[Joan] One thing I do know is
when Consumer Reports did their
assessment, they were
looking at whether or not it it had any
impact on at least clothing or leather
and things like that, so that would give
you some sense as to whether
that would actually be a problem for
mosquito [repellent], but it's generally actually a
good idea just to wash off the insect
repellents when you come back in,
just as an extra precaution, even
though toxicity for humans is very rare.
[Leslie] Someone asked if
pachysandra is known to harbor ticks?
[Joan] I think pachysandra
is fairly dense and probably would
create a nice humid environment.
Ticks are just going to drop off of
the animal that was carrying them
at the particular time.
[Leslie] Would spreading nematodes
be useful against ticks?
And would diatomaceous earth be useful?
[Joan] My sense would be probably not.
[Kirsten] There's not a lot of
research about either one of
them, particularly the nematodes which is
a minute microscopic round worm more
effective against organisms that spend
at least part of their life in the soil.
So, no, I would not recommend the
beneficial nematodes; there's just not
enough research to support the
efficiency for it.
Diatomaceous earth will be useful
against lots of pests in the garden, but
again, because ticks' preferred habitat is
going to be a habitat with tall weeds where they can
better attach and come in contact with
with mammals, warm-blooded mammals,
they're not likely to be lurking in the garden.
Other than dragonflies, are crane flies
or [other insects] natural predators for
mosquitoes?
[Joan] Well, there's midges, and
of course, there's the toads, frogs,
tadpoles, those will all
be eating larvae. [Leslie] Here's a
different type of question and I think a
good one.
What's the best way to influence county
officials who offer commercial fogging
due to demand from certain neighborhoods?
[Joan] I think it's probably doing a
petition and an education program,
working through groups
like the Master Naturalists
to try to really get the message out
and to work with the
county officials and advocate for using
more scientifically-based treatment and
also treatment that is not going to be
harmful to the pollinators. [Leslie] I know that
you guys have done presentations to
groups like homeowners associations to
help spread the education to
neighborhoods in general, so that's
something people can keep in mind as well.
[Joan] These [programs] are all being
videoed, so you can share them with
your homeowners association and other
groups to get the message out.
[Leslie] How does
the mulch barrier work? Do the ticks
not like it? Do they have a difficult
time climbing over it? How does that work?
[Joan] They just don't like it; they like
to be in areas where it's going to be a
bit more humid, as they can dry out
fairly quickly. [Mulch] puts them more
exposed to sun and heat.
[Leslie] Are mosquitoes pollinators?
[Joan] Not generally, because they're not going
to be feeding on the pollen of the
flowers which is what really needs to happen.
[Leslie] Do mosquito coils work,
the ones that put up a
stream of smoke? [Joan] Those things don't tend to be
very effective. If you're outside,
a small fan is
probably the most effective thing
because that will really keep them off.
Do crane flies eat mosquitoes? Do you know if they
in particular, eat mosquitoes? [Joan]
Kirsten, do you know anything specific about
crane flies? Usually anything in the
fly family? [Kirsten] I can't speak knowledgeably
about that, no. [Leslie] So we're going to just
finish off with this video regarding ticks.
