What to Expect at a Mosquito Service Request

Pinellas County Mosquito Control divides the county into 11 zones with a dedicated mosquito technician servicing each of them. In addition to routinely checking and treating known breeding sites, they respond to service requests.

When you request service, we’ll ask for your contact information plus a few questions that can help the technician look for the source(s) of mosquitoes. Different species of mosquitoes bite at different times of day and on different parts of your body! This information can give clues as to what habitat the technician should start checking for.

Mosquito Control technicians arriving for a service request will always:

• Drive a labeled Pinellas County vehicle.
• Wear a Pinellas County uniform.
• Have a Pinellas County ID badge.
• Alert you that they have arrived.
• Ask for permission to access a backyard (unless permission is given on the request phone call or form).

The technician will focus on identifying what kind of mosquito is causing the issue and where they are breeding. Eliminating the source is the most effective way to provide mosquito relief.

Treating the adult mosquitoes only provides temporary relief. To do this, they will check in and around your yard and neighborhood. They may do a landing rate count, a survey technique where they will count and identify the mosquitoes that land on them in one minute. Some mosquitoes are not active during the day and they may set a trap or ask you to collect a sample of what is biting you. Providing a sample helps expedite the proper treatment.

Once the breeding source is found, the technician will dump the standing water, add mosquito fish or use a larvicide.

The most common mosquitoes we find on service requests are the container-breeding species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. These pesky ankle-biters are found in water that collects in objects around your home, and they only need a bottle cap of water to breed! The best way to prevent these mosquitoes is to dump standing water once a week. For more information, check out our prevention and protection tips.