Adulticiding:
Adulticiding is the process of controlling mosquitoes when they are mature, flying mosquitoes. Adult female mosquitoes are the ones that bite, so ultimately they provide the largest threat to the public welfare. Adulticiding is necessary because larviciding is not 100% effective, some sites may be unknown and mosquitoes can migrate into the District from surrounding areas. Also, there are areas that we cannot treat and so mosquitoes have the opportunity to develop without interference from us. Adulticiding can provide temporary control of mosquitoes in a given area, but is not practical as the only method of control.
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Adulticides We Use:
- Pyrocide
- Pyrocide is an insecticide that contains pyrethrins. Pyrethrins are derived from the extract of chrysanthemum flowers. Pyrethrins are widely used for control of various insects. Pyrethrins are one of the least poisonous insecticides to mammals(1). Pyrethrins are low in toxicity to mammals because they are quickly broken down into inactive forms and pass from the body in the urine and feces (1,2). Pyrethrins have an extremely low pesticide movement rating because they bind tightly to the soil(1) and rapidly degrade in sunlight at the soil and in water.
- Anvil 10+10
- Anvil 10+10 is an insecticide that contains synthetic pyrethroids, which emulate naturally occurring insecticides known as pyrethrins, found in chrysanthemum flowers. This substance, called d-Phenothrin (brand name Sumithrin), kills mosquitoes effectively, yet biodegrades rapidly in the presence of sunlight and/or microorganisms.
- References:
- (1) Ray, D.E. (1991). Pesticides derived from plants and other organisms. In W.J. Hayes Jr. & E.R. Laws (Eds.), Handbook of Pesticide Technology. Vol. 2. (pp.585-593). Toronto: Academic Press.
- (2) Hayes, W. J. (1982). Pesticides Studied in Man. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.