Biological Control of Biting Insects: Assessment of the 2017 season
With autumn coming, the biological control of biting insects is coming to an end. For GDG Environment, this means that our operations to reduce the nuisance caused by mosquitos and black flies have stopped and it’s now time to do a balance-sheet. Have there been more mosquitoes this year? Are some regions more affected than others?
Here is our 2017 review for Quebec, in three points:
1. A season marked by floods
The historic floods that hit Quebec in spring have had a major impact on mosquito proliferation. The regions of Mauricie and Outaouais were strongly affected. Since mosquito larvae develop in stagnant water, floods have resulted in a multiplication of sites to be treated. In addition, low pressure systems began in April and unusual precipitation limited opportunities for aerial treatments. Fortunately, weather conditions were milder in May and this facilitated further operations.
2. Effective treatments
Despite the floods and heavy rains, we are proud to have offered effective treatments in all regions of Quebec. The tests carried out indicated that we have reduced the nuisance caused by mosquitoes and black flies by 80% to 95%. Of course, the goal of our treatments is not to eradicate biting insects, but to control their populations.
We were pleased by the results of our treatments to control populations of black flies. The average efficiency rate for all of our black fly controls is 94% and a rate of 98% has been recorded in the municipality of Saint-David-de-Falardeau.
3. Constant dialogue with the population
In a context where there were more mosquitoes this summer than in previous years, our experts have conducted several media interviews to explain the underlying causes of the phenomenon and to explain how to protect themselves from the insect’s bites. Our expertise was also sought by many citizens who wanted a biological control program for biting insects in their municipality. We have been pleased to respond to all requests and questions that have been addressed to us, and to provide additional information on the safety of Bti.
Dialogue with citizens continued with our presence at many events organized by the municipalities benefiting from our treatments. These events were ideal moments to survey the population about the evaluation of our treatments. Finally, throughout our operations, we answered the questions of the citizens thanks to our mosquito buzz line.