Demand insecticide can now be directly applied to ornamental foliage to control mosquitoes.
As summer approaches and you anticipate another busy mosquito season, it’s worthwhile considering how you can offer your customers a reliable and cost-effective program to control these pests, so they can enjoy happy and pest-free time outdoors.
Many mosquito species are significant urban pests that readily breed in small containers and other water receptacles around homes and businesses. Not only can they be daytime or evening feeders, mosquitoes are also potential vectors of diseases like the Ross River virus and dengue fever.
As a result, council managed mosquito abatement departments, who are responsible for managing mosquitoes arising from waterways and flood waters in their local area, may often approach pest control operators for advice on what they can do to help manage them.
There are several tactics you can use to help customers deal with the problems posed by these urban mosquitoes:
- Work with council mosquito abatement departments to educate customers about the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in their area.
- Encourage the use of mosquito repellents and proper clothing when working or playing outdoors.
- Help customers mosquito-proof their homes and businesses by inspecting screens and storm doors.
- Help customers reduce mosquito breeding sites by removing or closing containers that may hold water, such as old buckets, planter bases, ceramic pots and old tyres. You should also inspect rain gutters, as they can hold water long enough for most mosquitoes to breed.
- Treat permanent bodies of water with bacterial control agents or insect growth regulators, which can be supplied by your local pest management distributor.
- Make insecticide barrier treatments to outdoor structures to reduce mosquito pressure in the areas immediately surrounding homes and businesses.
As you know, mosquitoes like to rest in cool, shady areas created by landscapes, decks and outdoor structures. So, it makes good sense to treat these areas with a residual insecticide, which will kill mosquitoes that land on the treated surface.
Demand helps control mosquitoes with advanced iCAP Technology
A program that incorporates Demand Insecticide with iCAP technology can provide your customers with excellent suppression of mosquito populations. What’s more, Demand can also help control other pests, such as fleas, spiders, ants and cockroaches.
Featuring the power of iCAP technology, a unique microencapsulated formula from Syngenta, Demand not only sticks to tough surfaces, but also easily attaches to pests’ waxy cuticles as they travel along a treated surface.
Scientific research from Syngenta has demonstrated that use of a microencapsulated insecticide like Demand can offer effective control of mosquitoes when applied to vegetation, such as bushes, hedges, leaf litter, ornamentals and shrubs, particularly in shady and damp areas around buildings.
Microcaps that stick where they should
Microcapsules are designed to be picked up by insects as they crawl over treated surfaces so they can be easily transferred and help control insects on contact. That’s why iCAP technology microcaps adhere to insects and are easily passed to other insects for thorough control. These microcaps also remain intact under heat and pressure, meaning DEMAND® is strong enough to maintain control between quarterly service cycles, reducing the need for retreats.
Multiple-sized, dual walled microcaps set iCAP technology apart from any other microcapsule formulation on the market. Smaller microcaps release the active ingredient quickly for immediate control. While larger microcaps are designed to remain intact longer, releasing the active ingredient for residual control of pests like mosquitoes, fleas, ants, cockroaches and spiders for up to 90 days.
If you offer a mosquito management treatment, the products must be applied to both the top and bottom of outdoor items. This is best achieved by using a mist blower applicator to apply the insecticide. A standard compressed sprayer may be used to apply Demand instead, but generally requires more time and greater volumes to create the same amount of coverage as the mist blower. Barrier treatments work best around buildings with lush landscaping that provides resting areas for mosquitoes. When creating a perimeter barrier with Demand, be sure to apply to the vertical face of the outer perimeter of vegetation that is harbouring the mosquitoes. You should also ensure good coverage to both leaf surfaces and good penetration into the vegetation barrier. Spraying is best performed in the early morning or late evening, to avoid toxic risk to bees. Do not spray Demand if bees are actively foraging.
Give your customers peace of mind this summer with Demand
While we all strive to keep our customers happy, it’s important not to guarantee results you can’t deliver on when dealing with a mosquito management service. For example, it’s never wise to promise that you can totally eradicate mosquitoes, mosquito bites, or mosquito-borne diseases. Your service can never cover a large enough area to keep all mosquitoes out of their yards. However, Demand can enable you to deliver residual control of mosquitoes for up to 14 weeks, and this can be maintained by re-applying at regular intervals of no more than 10 weeks. If you develop, follow and re-evaluate your mosquito control protocol, you will be able to help give your customers peace of mind they want when it comes to mosquito problems.