Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We ask all residents to keep their properties free of standing water where mosquitoes will lay their eggs.

If the District has traps in your yard, we ask you to make sure we can gain access to check and service these traps on regularly scheduled days.

Check inside the home for vases, plant saucers or other containers that may be breeding mosquitoes. Dump out the water, scrub them thoroughly, and store them or clean them weekly.

As with all mosquitoes, make sure doors and windows have screens that are in good repair to keep them out.

In Kentucky, the program took approximately 8 weeks before the number of invasive mosquitoes in the area began to drop.

Residents in areas immediately surrounding the release sites may notice a decrease in mosquito numbers as a result of this program because fewer mosquitoes will survive to reproduce during the hot summer months.

For residents outside of the program site, our services are still available. We will continue to conduct our control and surveillance activities. This includes monitoring public areas that have stagnant water as well as responding to service requests. The surveillance of West Nile virus activity will continue as well.

We will be in the program area several times per week. This is to release mosquitoes and monitor traps.

We never require you to allow our staff inside your home. We only inspect yards and common areas where mosquitoes thrive.

All of our trucks are well-marked on both sides with our logo. Staff wear uniforms with a logo, and will have badges prominently displayed. Please feel free to call our office at 562-944-9656 if you are unsure. Safety is priority for our residents and our staff.

We are a governmental agency. Our program is prefunded through a benefit assessment, so there will never be a charge when we come out to help.

No. The released male mosquitoes have not been genetically manipulated. There is nothing new introduced into our environment because all the eggs laid by females that mated with the sterile males will not hatch.

No, the male mosquitoes we are releasing cannot bite, transmit disease, or harm the environment in any way. The female mosquitoes that are currently present in the communities are dangerous, since they do bite and have the potential to make us sick.

You will not be able to tell the released males apart from wild mosquitoes in your neighborhood. Since male mosquitoes do not bite, you will not experience an increase in biting.

We are working under a permit issued by US Environmental Protection (EPA) Agency and CA Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), and in coordination with the CA Department of Public Health (DPH). Because we are using a biological material (Wolbachia), the mosquitoes are technically registered by CA DPR as a bio-pesticide.

US EPA is very excited about this approach because it specifically targets disease transmitting mosquitoes in a way that is safe for the environment. Only the target mosquito is harmed and pesticide use can be dramatically reduced.

Wolbachia, the bacteria that these mosquitoes are carrying, is naturally found in mosquitoes (and nearly 70% of all insects) already in our environment. This includes butterflies, dragonflies and native mosquitoes in our local environment.

While common in insects, the unique Wolbachia present in mosquitoes has no effect on and cannot be transmitted to humans, pets or other animals.

The program’s male mosquitoes contain a strain of Wolbachia that is different than the strain found in the wild females in South El monte. When the two mosquitoes with different strains of Wolbachia mate, the eggs are not fertile, which means they will not hatch. This process that prevents successful development inside the mosquito egg is called cytoplasmic incompatibility.

Wolbachia was first discovered in the 1920s and scientists have thoroughly researched the bacterium’s potential use in mosquito control.

More recently, there are numerous papers published by Stephen Dobson and his team available in scientific journals for your review. Visit his page on the University of Kentucky’s website for a listing.

A good relationship with our residents is key to controlling the invasive mosquitoes that can change the way we live.

You can contact us at 562-944-9656 or email us at info@glacvcd.org.