Online resources & key organizations
The best place to start:
University of California, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM). www.ipm.ucanr.edu Search: Mosquitoes.
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NOTE: FEDERAL WEBSITES
U.S. Government websites are not included here because, under the current Administration, some websites have been altered to conform with White House policies that differ from enacted laws, others are no longer updated, and some have been taken down entirely.
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California Department of Public Health (CDPH). www.cdph.ca.gov Search: Mosquitoes. Key document: “Best Management Practices for Mosquito Control.”
California Department of Pesticide Regulation. www.cdpr.ca.gov Promotes “sustainable pest management,” which aims to accelerate adoption of IPM.
San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District (SGVMVCD). www.sgvmosquito.org
The local authority directly responsible.
American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). www.mosquitoes.org
Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC). www.mvcac.org
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OTHER PESTS
The UC IPM website -- www.ipm.ucanr.edu -- has detailed advice on controlling many kinds of pests found locally, including ants, fleas, and venomous spiders (as well as mammals such as mice, rats, opossums, raccoons, gophers, and coyotes -- and others).
No-see-ums (biting midges). These tiny flies found in MSAG cause painful bites that can itch for days. Methods for abatement are generally the same as for mosquitoes. Small-mesh window screens offer better protection than standard screens but can reduce air flow.
What's the threat?
>> Top of page: The invasive Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus)
>> Above: The Southern House Mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus (m/f)
The kinds of mosquitoes that live in MSAG can carry viruses and bacteria that cause serious illness. In a warming climate, insect-borne diseases once found only in the tropics are expanding northward.
WEST NILE VIRUS
This is the most common and most serious vector-borne disease in California and locally. More than 8,000 human cases and nearly 400 deaths have been reported in California since 2003. West Nile is spread by medium-sized, brown Culex mosquitoes (illustration above).
AEDES VIRUSES
Two species of invasive Aedes mosquitoes arrived in Claremont and Pomona in 2016-2017: Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, and Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito. Both are small, black mosquitoes with white stripes on their back and legs. The large image at the top of the page is of the tiger mosquito; the yellow fever mosquito is very similar. These insects bite during the day and can transmit some of the most debilitating and deadly mosquito-borne viral pathogens known to humans, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. In California, only dengue fever has been found so far.
PROTECTING PETS AND NON-TARGET WILDLIFE
Insecticides must be applied in ways that minimize harm to our pets as well as vulnerable and beneficial wildlife such as hummingbirds, butterflies, ladybugs, honey bees, and dragonflies.
RISK OF MOSQUITO BITES BY MONTH IN CALIFORNIA
Chart from state Department of Public Health
The risk is highest when the weather is hot and mosquitoes are most active.
A LITTLE HISTORY
J. Wakeli Wekesa, A Century of Mosquito Control in California, 1915-2015.
Moving toward Integrated Pest Management
Moving toward Integrated Pest Management
We don’t need to stop using insecticides suddenly or entirely, but the Gardens should move toward “integrated pest management” (IPM), the effective method called for by California state and local authorities.
The University of California’s Statewide IPM program -- www.ipm.ucanr.edu
-- has been a leader globally in developing this method, defined as “an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage . . . Pesticides are used only after monitoring shows they are needed . . . and applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, beneficial and nontarget organisms, and the environment.”
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has a simpler definition of IPM: "Any approach that uses the least toxic, effective method to solve pest problems."
USING INSECTICIDES WHEN NEEDED
The state health department cautions that insecticides “must be used by trained personnel and after careful planning.” It calls for applying insecticides selectively to the proper life stage of the mosquito, and in a manner that will “minimize personal hazard to the applicator and other people in the vicinity.”
WHERE MOSQUITOES BREED AND HANG OUT
Mosquitoes go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Some species lay eggs on stagnant water and usually hatch within a day or two. Others lay eggs on moist soil and don’t hatch until the surfaces are flooded, which may occur months later. Our koi ponds have moving water and were free of mosquito eggs and larvae when tested in 2024; testing will continue. Adult mosquitoes often rest on the back of large leaves of trees and shrubs.
WORKING WITH MSAG’s LANDSCAPE AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Pest control will be taken into account in choosing new plantings and updating irrigation, drainage, wiring, and outdoor lighting systems.
MORE FACTS & TIPS
HAT'S THE LIZARD DOING HERE?
To teach us a lesson.
Mt. San Antonio Gardens is home to a lot of western fence lizards. These little reptiles, harmless to us, are the reason Lyme disease is rare in our region. They are the main hosts for the ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria, and have a protein in their blood that kills the bacteria in ticks that feed on them.
The lesson is that natural predators like these lizards -- and our owls, hawks, seldom-seen bats, and dragonflies (see below) -- need our understanding and protection.
LOOK INTO PLANTS THAT REPEL MOSQUITOES
A number of annual and perennial flowering plants repel mosquitoes, for example, marigold, sage, and mint. Search online for details relevant to our location.
WHICH TOPICAL MOSQUITO REPELLENTS ARE SAFE?
Consumer Reports has detailed, up-to-date advice on repellents.
State and federal agencies have guidance on their websites. However, their advice is based on recommendations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (see Note on Federal Websites, above).
WHAT ABOUT TAKING VITAMINS ?
Some Gardens residents swear by taking vitamin B to keep mosquitoes from biting them. However, a recent survey of the scientific literature states, "The scientific consensus is, unequivocally, that oral repellents don’t exist. Despite extensive searches, no food, supplement, medication, or condition has ever been proven to make people repellent." What can we conclude? It may be that taking a particular form of vitamin B works for some people against some kinds of mosquitoes.
THE NEXT STEP: SUSTAINABLE Pest Management
Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) was written into California law in 2024. It is defined as a "holistic, whole-system approach applicable in agricultural and other managed ecosystems and urban and rural communities that builds on the existing practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to include the wider context of three sustainability pillars:
- Human Health and Social Equity: mitigate the impacts that pesticides have on communities.
- Environmental Protections: understand linkages between pesticides and broader issues, like water conservation, biodiversity, soil health, and climate.
- Economic Vitality: a broader consideration of economic benefits and impacts."
[Food and Agriculture Code Section 11412]
Does this matter to Mt. San Antonio Gardens? Yes, if we are serious about promoting sustainability, including human health. We need to keep in touch with new developments in pest management for our own sake in the Gardens and because our residents are able to spread the word through their own networks.
Inserting these few phrases into state law represents a major shift in policy. According to the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, "As climate change and severe weather introduce new and increasing pest pressures, current tools become less effective at managing pests, and scientific studies identify significant impacts of high-risk pesticides that require increased restrictions on their use, California is focused on bringing safe, effective pest management tools to market faster."
The goal of the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap, produced through a two-year collaborative process, is for California, by the year 2050, "to replace priority high-risk pesticide use with sustainable pest management and for sustainable pest management to become the state’s de facto pest management system." For more information, visit the website of the Department of Pesticide Regulation:
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/spm-ipm-overview
DRAGONFLIES
FANS, CANDLES, ETC.
DRAGONFLIES
Spraying pesticide can harm dragonflies, which are a good example of natural pest control. One dragonfly can eat hundreds of mosquito larvae and adult insects in a day. In the Gardens, they hang out around the koi ponds and fountains.
In Southern California, we have 77 species of dragonflies. This one, the flame skimmer (Libellula saturata) is one of the most common.
MONARCHS
FANS, CANDLES, ETC.
DRAGONFLIES
Spraying pesticide can harm monarch butterflies. The main organization focused on insect conservation in North America, the Xerxes Society, has issued a report on the extent of this problem in California and what to do about it to protect these fascinating migratory insects.
Adult monarchs lay their eggs only on milkweed plants, and m
Spraying pesticide can harm monarch butterflies. The main organization focused on insect conservation in North America, the Xerxes Society, has issued a report on the extent of this problem in California and what to do about it to protect these fascinating migratory insects.
Adult monarchs lay their eggs only on milkweed plants, and monarch caterpillars feed only on milkweed. However, monarchs need milkweed species native to where they live, rather than the tropical species sold in some commercial nurseries. In the Gardens, residents have planted native species (sold at the California Botanic Garden nursery) and worked with the Administration to remove any tropical milkweed remaining on the grounds. Probably for those reasons, Monarchs are frequently seen in the Gardens.
FANS, CANDLES, ETC.
FANS, CANDLES, ETC.
FANS, CANDLES, ETC.
Consumer Reports tested three methods for controlling mosquito activity in a large outdoor area: citronella candles, an oscillating pedestal fan, and a battery-powered area diffuser that emitted geraniol, a natural repellent derived from plants.
CR found that "the fan is far more effective than citronella candles or the geraniol
Consumer Reports tested three methods for controlling mosquito activity in a large outdoor area: citronella candles, an oscillating pedestal fan, and a battery-powered area diffuser that emitted geraniol, a natural repellent derived from plants.
CR found that "the fan is far more effective than citronella candles or the geraniol diffuser. . . . While a fan makes it more difficult for mosquitoes to fly against the steady breeze, it also helps disperse the carbon dioxide we emit when we breathe -- a good thing because mosquitoes use carbon dioxide as a guide to finding humans when they’re looking to feed." www.consumerreports.org
Mosquito repellent coils, which burn over many hours, were not included in this project, but are given mixed reviews elsewhere.