• Caocao [he/him]
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    edit-2
    4 years ago

    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.

      • Caocao [he/him]
        arrow-down
        1
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        4 years ago

        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

        • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
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          edit-2
          4 years ago

          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.

      • john_browns_beard [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        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.