Mosquito boom bugs Villagers

James Braha has an itching desire to get rid of the mosquitoes that have been taking quite a few bites out of him lately in the Longbeach Village.

“They became bad consistently three or four months ago,” he said. “They’ve been eating me alive.”

If you’re a Village resident, and you’ve been even more bugged than usual this summer, you’re not alone.

“We have this every year to varying degrees, but I think this year it’s worse because of the storms,” said Commissioner Pat Zunz, who lives in Land’s End. “We’ve had past seasons that were basically drought seasons.”

Manatee County Mosquito Control District sprayed in the Village area earlier this month and will likely return for more spraying.

Christopher Lesser, assistant director of the Manatee County Mosquito Control District, said that his agency has been getting between three and five times the number of mosquito complaints it typically receives since Tropical Storm Debby.

But the population of the bloodsucking bugs in question, known as the yellow-fever mosquito because of one illness they spread (although Florida hasn’t had a documented yellow-fever case in more than 50 years) has been surging throughout Manatee County and, to an extent, the entire state, for reasons that aren’t clear to officials.

Their best guess: Increased urbanization throughout the state, which increases mosquito-breeding habitat.
Lesser said that the increased mosquitoes are largely bred in containers that hold stagnant water.

“Places like tires, fish ponds, refuge, trash, bird baths,” Lesser said. “The kind of things that people forget about are the kind of areas we see (increased activity).”

So, why does the Village seem more plagued by mosquitoes than the rest of the Key?

Probably because it has lots of single-family homes with backyards, where mosquito-generating containers can accumulate, unlike the rest of the Key, which consists mostly of condominiums.

Lesser’s agency will typically spray any home that reports a problem with mosquitoes within 24 hours.

In order to conduct spraying efforts via helicopter, the county must document that a larger area of at least 500 to 1,000 acres is impacted by mosquito activity.

Still, according to Lesser, Longboat Key’s mosquito population appears to be declining in the weeks following Debby.

But the population of mosquitoes biting Braha doesn’t seem to be going away. He is still getting bitten, especially in the early morning and late afternoon — and he is encouraging his neighbors to contact the county to document the issue.

Critter contacts
Call the following numbers for mosquito complaints, details about spraying and more information.
Manatee County: 746-8641
Sarasota County: 861-5000; ask for mosquito services.