Mosquito control in Grenada
Aedes aegypti, the mosquito behind dengue in the Caribbean, breeds in small containers of clean water around the house. It does not travel far from where it hatched. Clearing the water matters more than anything we spray, so that is where a treatment starts.
What changes in the wet season
- Aedes aegypti breeds in containers of clean water: drums, buckets, plant saucers, roof gutters, tyres and boat covers. It does not breed in swamps.
- It does not fly far, usually staying within a couple of hundred metres of where it hatched, so the breeding site is almost always on your property or your neighbour's.
- Numbers climb through the wet season, roughly June to December, and again after any heavy rain that leaves water standing.
- It bites during the day, mostly in the early morning and late afternoon, so a bed net on its own does not help much here.
Aedes aegypti spreads dengue, chikungunya and Zika, all of which are present in the Caribbean. Grenada's health authorities run their own mosquito control and put out advice during an outbreak. Getting rid of breeding sites on your own property is the most useful thing you can do, and it is what we build a treatment around. If you have symptoms you are worried about, see a doctor.
How to tell you have a problem
- Bites during the day, especially early morning and late afternoon.
- A lot more mosquitoes within a week or so of heavy rain.
- Mosquitoes resting in shaded, damp spots: under furniture, behind curtains and under the house.
- Water standing in plant saucers, drums, buckets, tyres, gutters or an unused pool.
- Small wrigglers in any open container of standing water. Those are the larvae.
- Biting at night, which points to Culex and usually to a drain or soakaway problem rather than containers.
Common species here
The container breeder that spreads dengue, chikungunya and Zika in this region. Dark, with pale markings on the back. Bites during the day.
A close relative with a single white stripe down its back. Found more in gardens and semi-rural areas. Also bites during the day.
The one that whines around your ear at night. Breeds in dirty water: soakaways, blocked drains and septic overflow.
How we treat it
We walk the property and list every container, gutter, drain and low spot holding water, including the ones people forget: the saucer under a planter, a boat cover, an old cistern.
We deal with the water first, then treat the shaded planting and the space under the house where the adults rest during the day. Where water cannot be drained, such as a water store you need, we treat the water so the larvae do not develop.
You get a written list of the breeding sites we found and how to keep them clear. For villas and resorts we set up repeat visits through the wet season, when numbers are highest.
What you can do yourself
None of this replaces a treatment, but it makes the treatment work better and last longer.
- Walk round your yard once a week and tip out anything holding water. This does more than any spray.
- Store drums, buckets, tyres and wheelbarrows upside down or under cover.
- Put a tight lid or fine mesh over water tanks and drums.
- Clear the roof gutters and check the downpipes drain properly instead of pooling.
- Change pet water and any garden water feature at least twice a week.
- Fit screens to windows and doors and repair any that are torn, particularly on the shaded side of the house.
Common questions
Not covered here? Call us on (473) 403-7251 and we'll talk it through.
It will bring the numbers down for a few weeks. It will not hold them down on its own, because new adults keep emerging from any water left standing and others fly in from nearby properties. Treatment plus tipping out water every week is what keeps them down.
Not as a matter of course. Fogging kills the adults flying at that moment and does nothing about the larvae, so on its own it buys a day or two. We use targeted treatment of the places adults rest instead. If fogging is the right call for an event or an outbreak, we will say so.
Yes, with the normal precautions. We do not treat open water, food preparation surfaces or anything you are growing to eat, and we tell you how long to keep the treated areas clear. Let us know in advance about vegetable gardens, beehives or fishponds.
Yes. Repeat visits through the wet season are a large part of what we do for properties in Grand Anse, Lance aux Épines, Morne Rouge and along the west coast. We work around guest bookings and outside service hours where needed.