Mosquito Season: Detroit Among Worst In Nation For Pesky Bugs

DETROIT, MI – Warmer temperatures of spring and summer are just now arriving, and some unpopular guests – mosquitoes – are certain to appear shortly. According to a new report, Detroit ranks sixth among the cities across the nation most bothered by mosquitoes ruining time outdoors.

Atlanta is the worst city for mosquitoes, according to the report by TruGreen. Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston and Trenton, New Jersey, round out the top five, according to the lawn care service provider.

The company compiled its rankings based customer sales data from january 2017 to December 2017. Mosquito season can last from five to seven months, according to TruGreen. See the full report here.

To prevent and reduce the nuisance caused by mosquitoes, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention suggests that homeowners:

• Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out any items that hold water like tires, buckets, planters, toys, pools, birdbaths, flower pot saucers or trash containers. Mosquitoes lay eggs near water;
• Tightly cover water storage containers, such as buckets, cisterns and rain barrels, so that mosquitoes cannot get inside to lay eggs;
• For containers without lids, use wire mesh with holes smaller than an adult mosquito;
• Use larvicides to treat large containers of water that will not be used for drinking and cannot be covered or dumped out; and
• If you have a septic tank, repair cracks or gaps. Cover open vent or plumbing pipes. Use wire mesh with holes smaller than an adult mosquito.

• There are about 3,5000 species of mosquitoes, but only a couple hundred consume human blood;
• Only female mosquitoes bite – they need the protein before they lay eggs; male mosquitoes are happy vegetarians;
• Mosquitoes are attracted to human breath and sweat, and sense the heat and humidity around our bodies. They also seem to have a preference for beer drinkers; and
• Mosquitoes transmit all sorts of nasty diseases, including malaria, which infects some 250 million worldwide each year. About 1 million people, mostly children, die each year from malaria.

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