Biting back

With an annual mosquito problem made worse by the mild winter, the Village of Lawrence is striking back.

In coordination with the Nassau County Department of Public Works, the village is treating standing marsh water with BTI larvicide pellets. Standing water is a known breeding ground for mosquitoes, and many of the marshy areas in Lawrence are contained by an infrastructure of dikes that prevents drainage and creates pools of water. Standing water can also accumulate in garbage can lids, clogged gutters and flower pots.

Female mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at a time, which quickly become larvae that typically yield about 150 mature mosquitoes. The warmer-than-usual winter allowed many more eggs to survive with the freezes that kill them occurring much less frequently.

“Due to the wetlands in the back of Lawrence,” said Mayor Martin Oliner, “we have confirmed an infestation of mosquitoes, black flies and green flies.”

BTI, or bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, is a natural bacteria larvicide discovered in Israel’s Negev region that infects and kills mosquito larvae, as well as close relatives like gnats and black flies. It damages the gut cells, then quickly paralyzes and kills the larvae. It isn’t harmful to other insects, animals or humans. A moderate to heavy dose reduces the treated mosquito population by half in 15 minutes, and the remainder is eliminated in one hour.

The DPW initially received a call from the village on May 29, according to department spokesman Mike Martino. A day later, areas in back Lawrence were treated with BTI, he said. “Inspectors found gnats and flies to be a big problems in those areas,” Martino said. “When standing water is found, it is either eliminated by cleaning up whatever is holding it or treated with BTI pellets.”

Homeowners who have had their property treated are given information by the county about the impact standing water has on mosquito breeding. Homeowners are responsible for removing standing water, Martino said.

In the past few weeks, the village has also constructed 4-foot by 3-foot black boxes containing traps that attract mosquitoes and flies and then kill them. Oliner said that up to 60 of the boxes will be placed in areas where mosquito infestation is heaviest. With the county’s help, Lawrence is also targeting 150 homes in those areas for remediation.

This week, Lawrence had a professional entomologist from the Illinois-based Clarke company conduct a three-day survey to determine the source of the mosquitoes and the impact the marsh areas may have on their breeding, according to Laura McGowan, a spokeswoman for the firm. The work, which cost the village $6,000, was approved at the village board meeting on June 14. “Surveillance is a part of our integrated pest management to identify where they are coming from, where the greatest number is and the types of mosquitoes,” McGowan said. A report is expected to be submitted to the village by July 4.

Along with Clarke’s recommendations, Oliner said that the village intends to work with the county and state to periodically open the dikes to allow for drainage, which could help eliminating the persistent problem.

“I take this quality-of-life issue very seriously,” said Oliner, adding that residents can do their part by checking their homes for areas of standing water.