AGRICULTURE
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about 55 species in Indian
River County.
“We use Jeff’s services to
help control the salt marsh
mosquitoes who lay their
eggs in moist soil along the
Indian River Lagoon,”
Carlson
elaborated.
“They hatch
out and go
through
their developmental
stages
from
larvae,
to pupa
which
is similar
to a
cocoon of a
butterfly, to
a biting adult.
They reach maturity
in a week to 10 days,
which makes our work with
Jeff even more important.
By putting out the granular
material known as larvicides
we are able to kill the larvae
before they become adults.”
The material expelled is
completely harmless to anyone
and anything other than
the larvae, so there is no need
to worry about exposure.
“While some mosquito
programs own and maintain
their own aircraft, ours has
been able to use agricultural
chemical companies for over
60 years,” continued Carlson.
“It’s far more economical
because we don’t have the
initial multimillion expenditure
of buying the plane and
we don’t need mechanics,
pilots and insurance to run
them. All we have to do is
pick up the phone and call
Jeff and he comes out in his
yellow plane.”
So, the next time you see
the big yellow plane treetop
flying, know that the pilot
isn’t out there just for fun,
he’s busy making sure you
can enjoy life in paradise
without getting bitten by
mosquitoes.
The big yellow plane flies
above the Intracoastal
Waterway just north of
the 17th Street Bridge
in Vero Beach during a
recent application of dry
material designed to kill
mosquito larvae.
RUSTY DURHAM
/slbt.com