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Understanding In2Care: Mosquito Control Works Best When You Break The Breeding Cycle · PEST PROSpectives

• 0:08
  Richard Piet: Hi, Richard Piet.
• 0:09
  Richard Piet: This is PEST PROSpectives from the Pest Pros of Michigan.
• 0:13
  Richard Piet: We talk about those pesky insects and wildlife and a number of solutions involved in helping them move on down the road one way or another, I guess.
• 0:26
  Richard Piet: Tony Sarentino's back with us, an ace, associate certified entomologist with Pest Pros of Michigan.
• 0:33
  Richard Piet: Hello, Tony.
• 0:34
  Tony Sorrentino: Hey, Richard.
• 0:34
  Tony Sorrentino: It's great to see you again.
• 0:36
  Richard Piet: Today we're talking about mosquitoes, and in particular, a certain kind of solution that you may have heard of, and if you haven't, you will, that can help mitigate a mosquito problem in your world.
• 0:49
  Richard Piet: Let's uh, Tony, just get settled on the idea of mosquitoes.
• 0:53
  Richard Piet: They're not just annoying, are they?
• 0:56
  Richard Piet: We should be taking them a little more seriously.
• 0:58
  Tony Sorrentino: I definitely would.
• 0:59
  Tony Sorrentino: Mosquitoes are vectors of disease.
• 1:02
  Tony Sorrentino: Um, females require a blood meal for egg production, and males feed mostly on nectar.
• 1:09
  Tony Sorrentino: Um, mosquitoes in general, globally, are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal through disease transmission.
• 1:17
  Richard Piet: Wow.
• 1:18
  Richard Piet: Well, I don't think I'd heard that before.
• 1:20
  Richard Piet: That's wild.
• 1:22
  Tony Sorrentino: How do they transmit disease?
• 1:23
  Tony Sorrentino: It's known as an arbovirus.
• 1:25
  Tony Sorrentino: It's an arthropod-borne virus of common note, are like the West Nile virus, um, triple E.
• 1:32
  Tony Sorrentino: We had a an outbreak, uh, I think it was in 2018.
• 1:36
  Tony Sorrentino: Um the that's Eastern equine encephalitis.
• 1:41
  Tony Sorrentino: Um there's dengue, there's the Zika virus, and um malaria is probably the most widely known, but that's caused by a protozoan um infection, not a uh not a virus.
• 1:55
  Richard Piet: And we don't generally deal with malaria in Michigan.
• 1:58
  Richard Piet: You listed a bunch of others, though, that uh sound pretty impressive.
• 2:03
  Richard Piet: Now, that little pesky bug, all it has to do is bite you, and if they're carriers of these things, we're off to the races.
• 2:16
  Tony Sorrentino: Uh, it there's a potentiality for it.
• 2:18
  Tony Sorrentino: I'm again, I'm never trying to self fear, but there is a threat.
• 2:22
  Tony Sorrentino: Um the mosquito will bite a bird or another infected host, and then the mosquito feeds on that host, and the pathogen develops inside the mosquito, and and then the mosquito will bite another host, and the mosquito is then the vector for for these diseases.
• 2:40
  Richard Piet: Aaron Ross Powell We hear about fogging for mosquitoes and treatments such as that.
• 2:47
  Richard Piet: Is that different than what we might do ourselves as homeowners?
• 2:52
  Tony Sorrentino: Aaron Ross Powell What we do is uh a little different.
• 2:55
  Tony Sorrentino: Uh we apply with um a gas or battery-powered mister that creates uh smaller droplet size, smaller microns to better coat the underbrush and the resting areas where mosquitoes will live and harbor um the shady areas, um vegetation, the lower canopy around the structure perimeter.
• 3:17
  Tony Sorrentino: Um and that's why an inspection is is so important because there might be resting sites or breeding sites that we're not identifying.
• 3:27
  Richard Piet: You anticipated what I was going to ask about where they like to be.
• 3:31
  Richard Piet: They're not out generally living in lawns and things like that.
• 3:35
  Richard Piet: If if there's mowers going over, that probably disrupts their their uh homestead, shall we say.
• 3:42
  Richard Piet: But uh in the uh foundational areas where there might be some cover, that's a perfect spot.
• 3:49
  Tony Sorrentino: Right.
• 3:50
  Tony Sorrentino: That's that's where we focus our treatment.
• 3:52
  Tony Sorrentino: It's usually uh around the exterior perimeter, the woodline, heavy brush areas will be where they live and rest.
• 3:59
  Richard Piet: So if we're already fogging, why do they keep coming back?
• 4:03
  Tony Sorrentino: Um the new adults emerge continuously from standing water on and off the property.
• 4:09
  Tony Sorrentino: And some species of mosquito can travel, you know, up to two miles to, you know, go out and and hunt for a blood meal, whether whether it's a horse or a livestock, other livestock, um, it could be pets.
• 4:25
  Tony Sorrentino: A lot of times when we're, you know, relaxing, enjoying our outdoor spaces, that's when we become vulnerable.
• 4:32
  Richard Piet: Now let's talk about this option that some of us may have heard of.
• 4:36
  Richard Piet: It's called into care, I N, the number two, C-A-R-E.
• 4:40
  Richard Piet: What's this about, Tony?
• 4:42
  Tony Sorrentino: Female mosquitoes are attracted to standing water in other areas, um, tree holes, water and tires, um, that five-gallon bucket that's out behind your garage.
• 4:54
  Tony Sorrentino: It's in their nature, it's in their biology and behavior.
• 4:57
  Tony Sorrentino: Like that, that's what they're seeking out.
• 4:59
  Tony Sorrentino: And um, so they're they're they're attracted to to lay their eggs.
• 5:04
  Tony Sorrentino: The Intecare system uses uh pyroproxifen and um another biofungicide that's called bovaria basiana.
• 5:16
  Tony Sorrentino: Um, and it uses these two things in concert to create uh an area where mosquitoes are going to be drawn to to breed.
• 5:24
  Tony Sorrentino: The pyroproxifen handles the the larvicide.
• 5:27
  Tony Sorrentino: The adults will pick up the bovaria basiana and then they auto-disseminate it.
• 5:33
  Tony Sorrentino: So um as they move from spot to spot laying eggs in multiple areas, they will um auto-disseminate the the product that they picked up, that bovaria basiana.
• 5:45
  Tony Sorrentino: It will affect other mosquitoes that come to those areas, and it will also kill the female mosquito that that's out there.
• 5:53
  Tony Sorrentino: So we're looking at larval control, we're looking at adult control.
• 5:57
  Tony Sorrentino: It's a supplemental program that goes along with fogging to help create a greater impact on the mosquito breeding population in your in your immediate area.
• 6:08
  Richard Piet: This is like, I don't know, the Roach Motel, but better.
• 6:11
  Richard Piet: I mean, uh it attract it's a trap, essentially, it it but it poisons them while they're there, and then they go back and carry that poison wherever they go.
• 6:22
  Tony Sorrentino: Aaron Powell It works extremely well.
• 6:23
  Tony Sorrentino: Um we've had some great successes with the Into Care program as an add-on to um traditional fogging or mosquito misting.
• 6:33
  Richard Piet: Yeah.
• 6:34
  Richard Piet: People always ask about safety, right?
• 6:36
  Richard Piet: So talk about that.
• 6:37
  Richard Piet: Uh if you have into care around pets and kids and wildlife and that sort of thing.
• 6:43
  Tony Sorrentino: So pyroproxifen um doesn't pose a threat to people or pets, and bovaria basiana is insect specific.
• 6:51
  Tony Sorrentino: So um even if like the the dog inadvertently kicked over the thing and slurped up a little of the water from that spilled out of their dogs, um it's not gonna it's not gonna pose a threat to people or pets.
• 7:07
  Tony Sorrentino: So it's it's a green alternative, um not traditionally green like organic, but however, um it doesn't like I said, it doesn't pose a threat.
• 7:19
  Richard Piet: So you mentioned that this works in tandem with fogging.
• 7:23
  Richard Piet: Uh how does that typically play out?
• 7:26
  Richard Piet: The fogging happens periodically.
• 7:28
  Richard Piet: What do you have to do to maintain the into care?
• 7:32
  Tony Sorrentino: Fogging is recommended on a month-to-month basis to maintain control.
• 7:36
  Tony Sorrentino: Um and it's not ever gonna stop 100% of the mosquitoes.
• 7:40
  Tony Sorrentino: There's no way.
• 7:41
  Tony Sorrentino: What we do expect from the the fogging in general is like a 70 to 80 percent reduction in the mosquito population.
• 7:48
  Tony Sorrentino: The into care system complements the the fogging.
• 7:52
  Tony Sorrentino: So we're gonna have an even greater insect reduction rate, considering that we're, you know, we're doing larval control, we're doing adulticide.
• 8:04
  Tony Sorrentino: It just it it really works well in tandem.
• 8:08
  Richard Piet: So the I've seen a couple of pictures of of into care.
• 8:11
  Richard Piet: It it's uh this you know, it's like a trap and and it's a s a round uh item that uh you use.
• 8:19
  Richard Piet: Where do you put it typically?
• 8:22
  Tony Sorrentino: The one at my house is in the shade back by my little pond where the mosquitoes breed.
• 8:26
  Tony Sorrentino: It's not technically a trap.
• 8:28
  Tony Sorrentino: It it they are free to come and go as they please, and we encourage that.
• 8:33
  Tony Sorrentino: The real benefit comes from the auto-dissemination, uh, because then they're gonna they're gonna track the Bovaria Bassiana to other areas and affect other populations.
• 8:46
  Tony Sorrentino: Um, so we're gonna we're gonna get you know kind of a double whammy out of it.
• 8:50
  Tony Sorrentino: It they're doing the hard work for us.
• 8:53
  Richard Piet: Yeah, 70 to 80 percent with fogging.
• 8:55
  Richard Piet: I mean, that's already significant.
• 8:57
  Richard Piet: And then uh this is uh, I don't know, kind of like the preen for uh mosquitoes.
• 9:03
  Richard Piet: You know, you put down preen to try to keep the weeds from germinating.
• 9:08
  Richard Piet: This is gonna wipe out the future uh generations of it.
• 9:12
  Richard Piet: So this has to be quite effective.
• 9:15
  Tony Sorrentino: It's a it's a higher level of control, um, especially in areas where uh traditional fogging might not be enough if you've got, you know, wetlands or if you've got um neighbors who refuse to, you know, dump that that standing water out of the kitty pool or or set those tires someplace where they're not gonna fill up with rainwater.
• 9:38
  Tony Sorrentino: We've seen nightmare instances where, you know, there's tens of thousands of larval stage mosquitoes in the standing water surrounding people's houses, and that's affecting everyone in your neighborhood.
• 9:51
  Richard Piet: Aaron Powell That's uh quite impressive.
• 9:53
  Richard Piet: Not the kind of impressive we like, but quite impressive.
• 9:56
  Richard Piet: So does the IntuCare device sit uh right on the surface of the ground?
• 10:01
  Richard Piet: How does that work?
• 10:02
  Tony Sorrentino: It's effectively a bucket.
• 10:04
  Tony Sorrentino: It's about 12 to 18 inches tall.
• 10:07
  Tony Sorrentino: Um the mosquitoes can fly right into it.
• 10:09
  Tony Sorrentino: There's a float inside of it, and there's a gauze strip that's impregnated with the bovaria basiana.
• 10:16
  Tony Sorrentino: And then the pyroproxifen goes in the water.
• 10:19
  Tony Sorrentino: It's kind of it's got like a cone on the top of it.
• 10:22
  Tony Sorrentino: It's supposed to keep a little rainwater out.
• 10:24
  Tony Sorrentino: We we fill it up.
• 10:26
  Tony Sorrentino: It I think it takes about a half a gallon of water, between a half a gallon and a gallon of water.
• 10:31
  Tony Sorrentino: And then um we manage those monthly.
• 10:34
  Tony Sorrentino: So every time we come out to do your mosquito service, we uh will do that again in tandem, um, because it's part of the program.
• 10:43
  Tony Sorrentino: Um the mosquito misting uh serves a a threefold purpose.
• 10:50
  Tony Sorrentino: It'll control the mosquito flea and tick activity, um, while in two care is mosquito specific.
• 10:58
  Tony Sorrentino: Interesting.
• 10:59
  Richard Piet: All right.
• 10:59
  Richard Piet: This is real science here.
• 11:02
  Richard Piet: We've uh learned about mosquitoes and how they behave and created the system.
• 11:09
  Richard Piet: Not uh we didn't create it, but I mean the system was created in order to uh take advantage of their habits and then spread that uh effective treatment that wipes out the whole uh area of of issue with them, which is that is just tremendously exciting.
• 11:30
  Richard Piet: So uh obviously in our climate in Michigan, you're gonna come out a few months out of the year and then it gets put away for the winter and it comes back again in the spring.
• 11:40
  Richard Piet: Is that the typical cycle?
• 11:41
  Tony Sorrentino: That's correct.
• 11:42
  Richard Piet: Okay.
• 11:42
  Richard Piet: So if mosquitoes are a pain in the neck in your yard, then maybe this is the option that helps augment the fogging procedure that may be also underway.
• 11:55
  Richard Piet: Do you recommend this, by the way, in in areas that might not necessarily be near standing water, but maybe there's uh an issue in your yard with mosquitoes, you notice it, you deal with it.
• 12:08
  Richard Piet: Uh it's good there too?
• 12:10
  Tony Sorrentino: Yep, absolutely.
• 12:11
  Tony Sorrentino: Um, it's it, like I said, it's like uh it's like the icing on the cake.
• 12:16
  Richard Piet: All right.
• 12:16
  Richard Piet: If that sounds interesting to you, reach out to the pest pros of Michigan and ask them if this is a viable option in your yard or on your property to help control mosquito population into care.
• 12:29
  Richard Piet: All right, pest prospectives, this is where we talk about things like this and educating folks about pest control from the pest pros of Michigan.
• 12:39
  Richard Piet: Follow us or subscribe where you get these episodes.
• 12:43
  Richard Piet: We have lots more we've already presented.
• 12:46
  Richard Piet: Check them out, and more to come.
• 12:48
  Richard Piet: Tony, we'll be back soon.
• 12:49
  Richard Piet: Thanks, Richard.