Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Are Now Common During The Daytime In Houston: Here’s How To Identify Them & Eliminate Them From Your Home

Folks, I’m afraid this one isn’t a joke or a false alarm. We really need to talk about disease-carrying mosquitoes that could be invading our homes.

Photo by Mithil Girish on Unsplash

Please don’t click away yet. I know that in Houston, we’re all used to this, but the problem is evolving into something a little more dangerous, and we all need to be informed.

Let me start by saying, this isn’t a reason to panic, it’s a reason to plan ahead.

While we are talking about a new and changing concern, it’s not that it’s really more dangerous than what we’re used to… It’s just differently dangerous. Let me explain.

Let’s start with a really brief recap of what we regularly have to deal with for mosquitoes in Houston, before we talk about what’s changed.

If you’re an experienced mosquito matador, you can skip right past this part to see what’s new.

Photo by Rapha Wilde on Unsplash

Culex Mosquito Dangers & How We Stay Safe In Houston

If you’ve lived around here for any length of time, then you’re familiar with these little buggers already.

They’re a bit big for a mosquito, with a yellow-brownish color, and they’re absolutely everywhere, every year.

Everyone knows about these guys, and their dangers — or at least, you should.

They’re known carriers of West Nile virus and St. Louis Encephalitis, but on the plus side, we’ve been dealing with them for a long time and have some pretty effective strategies.

It’s not uncommon at all to have pest control take care of large amounts of these mosquitoes, and usually, they only come out to bite us at night, which also helps.

If you’re seeing these buggers around, don’t forget to wear repellent, avoid areas with stagnant water, and call for pest control if there are too many in your area.

Now with the old dangers having been discussed, let’s talk about what’s changed.

Aedes Mosquitoes Bring New Dangers & Need New Solutions

The first thing we all need to know is that these aren’t the same mosquitoes.

They don’t look the same, act the same, or carry the same risks, and they can’t be contained using the same solutions either. If you want to know more about how to identify or deal with them, there are some excellent free guides online.

Now, I’m not trying to build up a fear here, because we do have effective and easy solutions, but it’s super important to understand the difference, and to use the right solution for the right mosquito.

Unlike the larger, lighter Culex mosquito, the Aedes mosquito is smaller, darker, with white bands visible on its legs.

Another big difference is that they come out to bite during the day, so now we need to be cautious during daylight hours, and not just at night.

Now here’s where it gets a little complicated, because while we’re used to mosquitoes that prefer the great outdoors, the Aedes mosquitoes prefer to live and breed inside our homes.

That’s not great news for us… Instead of laying their eggs in stagnant ponds, lakes, or puddles, they aim for sources of standing water inside our homes.

It’s gross… and dangerous. The usual strategies, where we spray our yards and the surrounding area, aren’t going to work on indoor mosquitoes.

If you find these pests inside your home, I wouldn’t hesitate to call in an expert, because we can eliminate them, just not with the old techniques.

It will require an on-site inspection, and then a custom solution that will likely involve cleaning up any sources of standing water and removing any other attractants, at least.

I know it’s going to be a pain, but trust me, it’s worth it — because it’s better to keep the mosquitoes away than to swat at them all day, and it greatly lowers your risk of catching several unpleasant diseases.

The Aedes mosquitoes are known for being able to transmit Zika, dengue, and chikungunya, so they’re definitely best avoided or eliminated whenever possible.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

The Best Defense Is A Dry Defense

If you see these mosquitoes around your home, or just want the best possible defense, please, contact a local pest control specialist.

No one will know better than the experts how to defend your home and family — but while you wait for them to arrive, let me tell you the easiest solution to start with.

Remove all standing water that you can, dry it up, vacuum it up, and dump the locations where it builds up.

These little biters will breed in water that’s only ¼ inch deep, so we really need to be careful to remove all the potential breeding grounds.

Check your gutters, dishes in the sink, puddles in the yard, and anywhere else water might be building up.

For every mosquito that we prevent from successful breeding, we prevent hundreds of new mosquitoes. That’s what I call a cumulative strategy, and the first steps are easy.

All you have to do is clean up a tiny puddle, and you’ve potentially prevented hundreds, or even thousands of the bitey little buggers.