exterminator here: mosquitoes are crepuscular, which means they only come out at dusk. Direct sunlight will dry them out and kill them, so they spend the day time hiding out in foliage like this. Additionally, mosquitos do not travel far to acquire blood meals and will typically spend their entire lives in the square mile where they were born. So yeah, these balconies are definitely attractive homes to mosquitoes.
if they were I'd be out of a job. But imo the foliage on these balconies is well worth whatever mosquitoes are hiding inside; you can't cherry-pick with nature you get the good and the bad, and that's still far better than the alternative
According to this person the bigger issue is mold from lack of direct sunlight in the apartments themselves (something literally every apartment I've ever lived in has had a probablem with). Apparently they want to foliage to grow wild for a bit and manicure it once people get settled in because growing it takes years and manicuring can be done in a couple days.
Sadly they aren't. Light attractants mostly kill other bugs (usually pollinators like moths) and effective traps use a combination of CO2 and octenol, they usually require a power source and cost several hundred USD.
The best course of action is still removing standing water (breeding habitats) and using physical barriers to keep them out of whatever area you are in.
True, but mosquitoes need standing water to lay their eggs in. And if there are regular standing pools, there are pesticides that can be added to the water or add fish, dragon flies, or tree frogs. Fish will eat mosquitoes and larvae if they are in/on the water, dragonflies and frog larvae eat mosquito larvae.
Wild guess? Maybe the planters weren't draining properly, or otherwise were clogged or damaged, causing some pools of stillwater to form, so far away from potential prey I could see it as a great breeding ground
Why would these bushes attract any more mosquitos or insects than any other random bushes in a yard or streetside tho?
exterminator here: mosquitoes are crepuscular, which means they only come out at dusk. Direct sunlight will dry them out and kill them, so they spend the day time hiding out in foliage like this. Additionally, mosquitos do not travel far to acquire blood meals and will typically spend their entire lives in the square mile where they were born. So yeah, these balconies are definitely attractive homes to mosquitoes.
i figure mosquito traps are pretty easy to make though
if they were I'd be out of a job. But imo the foliage on these balconies is well worth whatever mosquitoes are hiding inside; you can't cherry-pick with nature you get the good and the bad, and that's still far better than the alternative
According to this person the bigger issue is mold from lack of direct sunlight in the apartments themselves (something literally every apartment I've ever lived in has had a probablem with). Apparently they want to foliage to grow wild for a bit and manicure it once people get settled in because growing it takes years and manicuring can be done in a couple days.
Sadly they aren't. Light attractants mostly kill other bugs (usually pollinators like moths) and effective traps use a combination of CO2 and octenol, they usually require a power source and cost several hundred USD.
The best course of action is still removing standing water (breeding habitats) and using physical barriers to keep them out of whatever area you are in.
Idk, but this is a lot of plants which helps maintain moisture which is beneficial for mosquitoes
The only solution is to dry out the earth
True, but mosquitoes need standing water to lay their eggs in. And if there are regular standing pools, there are pesticides that can be added to the water or add fish, dragon flies, or tree frogs. Fish will eat mosquitoes and larvae if they are in/on the water, dragonflies and frog larvae eat mosquito larvae.
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Wild guess? Maybe the planters weren't draining properly, or otherwise were clogged or damaged, causing some pools of stillwater to form, so far away from potential prey I could see it as a great breeding ground
Mosquitos feed on nectar too.
It does move the favorable habitat closer to humans. But, if there's proper medical facilities, malaria isn't hard to treat.