D3333: Aedes aegypti management logic for residential properties

Breeding populations of Aedes aegypti were first found in California in 2013. Currently, A. aegypti is found in many parts of California including the Southern and Central counties. This species is commonly detected between June-Nov in California depending on the weather at the exact location. Unlike many Culex spp., A. aegypti is a container breeder which means that it prefers smaller natural and artificial water retainers over pools, ponds, and other larger sources of stagnant water. Its container breeding behavior has made its management extremely difficult. Instead of focusing on treating mass-breeding sites, pest control experts are forced to spend a significantly higher amount of time on finding and removing small breeding sites, many of which are either undetectable or inaccessible. To overcome this hurdle, ovitraps, gravid female traps, and similar traps can be used to monitor, trap, and kill mosquito larvae and adults. Nevertheless, many of these traps only catch and kill a percentage of gravid females and usually have non-significant effects on the number of host-seeking female mosquitoes, resulting in steady biting incidences. As a result, the efficacy of gravid female traps is usually exaggerated and not consistent with scientific research and observations.