- April 15, 2024
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Wear light colors, long sleeves and bug spray to help protect yourself this summer.
BY WAYNE GRANT | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It's summertime, and the question on so many residents' minds is, How can we keep mosquitoes from wrecking our outdoor activities?
To help find an answer, a group of locals attended a presentation by Jim McNelly, Volusia County Mosquito Control director, Monday, at the Ormond Beach Regional Library. It was an education session, building off of 76 years of mosquito-control work in the area.
Mosquitos are such an issue in this area of Florida because of the large number of salt marshes along the Halifax and Tomoka rivers, McNelly said. There are about 20,000 acres of wetlands in the area that affect Ormond Beach residents, and 55,000 acres total in Volusia County.
“When you drive over a bridge and see areas of green, that’s an area that can (breed mosquitoes),” he said.
But the problem also arises near water around peoples’ homes — near bird baths, puddles and even tires or any other surface that holds moisture. Moisture is the key to breeding for the 50 different types of mosquitoes in the county, 12 of which are considered a nuisance.
“I check my yard every day,” McNelly added. “It’s an insidious problem.”
The county sprays salt marshes to kill mosquitoes in the early stages of their development, McNelly explained. If you see a truck spraying in your neighborhood, he added, “that means we missed some.”
He called spraying neighborhoods for adult mosquitoes a last resort.
His department’s 25 full-time and six seasonal workers also clean ditches to keep water flowing and introduce fish to certain water bodies to combat the bugs.
But those attending the meeting wanted to know about mosquitoes on a personal level — why, that is, they bite some people and ignore others.
Mosquitoes first detect a person by sensing carbon dioxide, McNelly said, and when they get closer, they actually see the person. People all exhale differently and have different temperatures, though, and they attract the insects in different ways. Mosquitoes react differently to different perfumes and colognes, as well, although all are attracted to darker-colored clothes.
Wearing repellent with Deet, along with long pants and sleeves, is also recommended.
McNelly, who assumed his position two years ago, is only the fourth mosquito director in the 76 years of his department's operation. He has a master’s degree in ecology and is currently working on an online master’s degree in entomology at North Carolina State University.
The next presentation at the Ormond Beach Regional Library, "Tips and Tricks to Protect Your Jewlery," will be 1 p.m. Monday, July 22. Reference Librarian Cindy Fouraker said that an Adult Summer Reading Program, in which patrons read a book of their choosing then turn in a review which enters them into a drawing for prizes, is also underway. The final drawing dates will be July 14 and July 21.
Still have concerns?
There are currently no diseases being spread in Volusia County by mosquitos, Volusia County Mosquito Control Director Jim McNelly said. There are flocks of “sentinel chickens,” including one in Ormond Beach, and none have shown any disease.
Residents with other mosquito concerns are encouraged to call the mosquito control department, at 239-6516, or visit www.volusia.org/mosquito.
