How To Kill Mosquito Larvae In Pools And Stop Their Breeding?
Reading Time: 16 minutes Are you tired of breeding of mosquito larvae in pools , and you don’t know HOW TO KILL MOSQUITO LARVAE IN POOLS? No big deal. In this article, we will briefly describe, How can you kill mosquito larvae in pools and prevent your swimming pool from them?
Swimming pools are the best habitat for mosquitoes. They are wide and full of water, essential for a baby mosquito. When you feel sluggish and don’t clean your pool for more than a week, it becomes an excellent opportunity for mosquitoes to make their new home. Steady water is an ideal place for mosquitoes to breed, such as breeding mosquito eggs in pool of a new home. And when you find it difficult to clean or sanitize your pool, they will most likely breed on it. After breeding, mosquitoes turn your pool into their new home, and it becomes hard to enjoy swimming with your family, so you must keep these insects away. To do this, you need to solve the larvae problem in your pool. It is also essential to check your pool to prevent the breeding of mosquito larvae in pools.
Before we begin the article, it is vital first to understand the behaviour of our common enemy and how to deal with it.
What Are Mosquitoes And Larvae?
Mosquitoes:
Mosquitoes are blood-sucking insects whose bites cause irritability. Before turning into these resonant suckers, mosquitoes undergo mutation through metamorphosis. It almost goes through four stages before turning into naturally grown mosquitoes. Mosquito eggs love water, such as swimming pools, ponds etc., & this is their habitat, not necessarily because water is their home.
The eggs lay together simultaneously and room together (fleet). Some of them hatch within 48 hours after laying eggs. It is the next stage in their life cycle after the growth of mosquito eggs in pools.
Larvae:
Larvae are small things that you see in the water. Larvae live in the water; these squiggly insects come to the surface to breathe. Most mosquitoes lay their eggs on steady water. That is why you can see mosquito larvae in pools and pots. However, they are responsible for mild changes at this stage of development, like a butterfly. They turn into PAPPU after the LARVAL STAGE (prepared to turn into adult mosquitoes). Towards the end of the mosquito’s life cycle, they emerge from the PAPPU and rest on the water’s surface to dry themselves before flying and sucking your blood. It will take days for them to eat blood, meet their mates, and make new baby mosquitoes, and this cycle will repeat.
There are four primary stages through which a mosquito’s egg passes before it matures.
EGGS: It is the first step that an adult female lays eggs in a body of water.
LARVAE: The second stage in which the egg produces respiratory components and rises to the surface.
PAPPU: At this stage, it is close to maturity and ready to turn into adult mosquitoes
ADULT: This is the last stage where Pappu becomes an adult mosquito.
However, it is essential to kill mosquito larvae in pools at the larval stage to prevent them from maturing and make it difficult to get rid of them.
Why Is There Mosquito Eggs In My Pool?
The important place in your home for laying mosquito eggs is an open water source such as a swimming pool. A swimming pool on your property multiplies the chances of breeding mosquitoes babies in your home. And all these mosquitoes would not be in your house if there was no place(Steady water) to lay their eggs. So, WHAT’S THE REASON MOSQUITOES LAY EGGS IN THE SWIMMING POOL? The two reasons are interconnected. The first reason is that the pool is dirty with organic matter like algae. And the second reason is that water is necessary for mosquito eggs to hatch.
After hatching, the larvae (also known as WIGGLERS) feed on algae and organic matter in the swimming pool. And these WIGGLERS breathe while floating on the surface of the water. Most swimming pools do not have fish and springs. It stabilizes the water surface and makes it suitable for laying mosquito eggs. It’s not just swimming pool water that mosquitoes lay their eggs on. If there is a pond or fish tank in your yard that does not have fountains or mosquito-eating fish, mosquitoes will also lay their eggs there. A swimming pool can get dirty for several reasons, which you will find later in this post.
Now that the causes of mosquito eggs in a pool are clear. The obvious question in your mind is, WHAT ATTRACTS MOSQUITOES IN YOUR SWIMMING POOL?
Ironically, your swimming pool is not only responsible for attracting mosquitoes. Other elements of your yard also play a role in attracting these mosquitoes to the swimming pool. Also check out, does fire attracts mosquitoes?
Why Is There Mosquitoes Larvae In My Pool?
There are many things in your yard that mosquitoes are attracted to, from plants to high humidity. Let’s take a look and understand why is there mosquito larvae in pools
1. Plants Around The Swimming Pool And In The Yard:
There are likely plants around the swimming pool if you have a swimming pool in your home’s yard. Some plants attract mosquitoes. And most of them are flowering plants. To our knowledge and experience, here are the plants that attract mosquitoes.
- WATER LILY
- WATER HYACINTHS
- STAR
- PAPYRUS
- Almost all flowering plants which contain nectar
WATER LILIES & WATER HYACINTHS are common plants that many homeowners plant in their pools. These plants produce some beautiful flowers and beautify the pool. As most plants contain nectar, all nectar-producing plants emit carbon dioxide, attracting mosquitoes. When you expel carbon dioxide, it attracts biting insects such as mosquitoes, bed bugs, and even kissing insects. In this article, we will further teach you HOW TO GET RID OF MOSQUITO LARVAE IN POOL?
So, if you have a lot of flowering plants in your yard, especially around the pool, there will be mosquitoes. The closer these plants are to the swimming pool, the more likely mosquitoes will discover your swimming pool. And when a large swimming pool is located by mosquitoes, it becomes a significant breeding ground for the mosquito larvae in pools.
2. High Level Of Humidity Around The Pool
Excessive watering around the yard and pool is a major cause of excess wetness. Filling too much water collects water in the yard and makes the water standstill. And when the humidity level rises, it attracts mosquitoes and invasive insects like ants, lizards and even termites. These are the best places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.
3. Inadequate Drainage System And Water Leakage:
A poor drainage system will not allow rainwater to pass through your yard, which increases the humidity level. Poor drainage systems and water leakage around the pool cause accumulation of water. On the same side, mosquitoes will settle in those places if the catch basins in your yard are closed and filled. The water will also remain stagnant in rubbish bins, clogged gutters and rotting tires near the pool and the garbage, making it a breeding ground for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Due to their small size, these spaces will not be able to accommodate the large number of mosquitoes that may reach your yard. SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN? Mosquitoes will target your swimming pool and breed mosquito larvae in pools.
ADDING FLOWERS NEAR A SWIMMING POOL WITHOUT ANY FISH AND SPRINGS WILL BE A HEAVEN FOR MOSQUITOES.
4. Pool Filtration And Water Circulation System:
As you know, mosquitoes lay their eggs on standing water. Although the pool water appears to be stagnant in the swimming pool, the pool filtration and circulation system cleans and circulates the water. It creates a whirlwind movement in the pool water, which keeps the pool water clean. But when the filtration and circulation of the pool water do not work, the pool water stagnates.
Stagnant water causes algae to form, making your swimming pool a breeding ground for mosquitoes. If the swimming pool is unused and has been lying idle for weeks without a pool cover, organic debris will accumulate in the swimming pool. It is like a cherry on the cake for mosquitoes.
So, after knowing all the possible reasons for mosquito eggs in the pool and what attracts these mosquitoes to your swimming pool, the most obvious question is how do you know that the mosquito eggs are in the pool water?
Can You See Mosquitoes Eggs Floating In Your Pool?
The truth is, you can’t see mosquito eggs floating in the pool water. Mosquito eggs are small. They are only 0.8 mm in size. You will need a strong magnifying glass or a microscope to see them. The blue pool floor makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to see them with open eyes on the water surface of the swimming pool. When mosquitoes lay their eggs on the water’s surface, they turn white. After 24 hours, the eggs turn black.
How Does Mosquito Larvae Looks Like In Water?
So, if you are unlucky and your pool has been dirty and neglected for weeks, you will see tiny black clumps of mosquito eggs on the pool’s surface. A mosquito larva looks like a tiny hairy worm ( a speck of soot floating on the water), less than a 1/4-inch long. Or, you’ll see little white tadpoles on the pool’s water surface.
In the next section, you will learn how to get rid of mosquito larvae in the pool and protect your pool from becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
How To Get Rid Of Mosquito Larvae In Pool?
Once you have confirmed the infection problem, stopping the breeding of mosquito larvae in pool is your next best option. You can invest in commercial larvae or pesticides specifically formulated for mosquito larvae. Keep in mind that killing mosquito larvae in pools is more effortless than killing flying adults.
Larosides help reduces mosquitoes’ adult population in any area and can be present in various forms such as liquids, tablets, granules, or bracket formulations.
Examples of government-approved pool mosquito larvae killing materials are METHOPRENE GRANULES that inhibit larval maturation, BTI DUNKS ORBITS that cause gut poisoning, killing larvae, and ORGANOPHOSPHATE PESTICIDES. Alternatives to commercial chemicals, few household products are not necessarily chemicals whose performance cannot be guaranteed. These include apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, bleach and mineral oil.
Let’s talk about these methods in more detail.
1. Methoprene Granules:
METHOPRENE GRANULES inhibit mosquito larvae growth using an artificial growth hormone inhibitor. It is widely distributed in pools and can last up to a month to ensure that larvae never reach the stage of PAPPU.
Scientific research has confirmed the effectiveness of methoprene granules against mosquito growth and its environmental protection.
Now you can even buy METHOPRENE GRANULES from Amazon.
HOW DO YOU APPLY THIS TREATMENT?
- First, find out the size of your pool. The instructions on this are usually based on size, so this is an excellent place to start taking care of your pool surface area.
- Wear protective clothing, Eyeglasses and gloves, preferably. You have to protect your skin from any irritation as much as possible.
- Measure the appropriate amount of granules based on the size of your pool.
- Sprinkle measured granules on the surface of the pool.
- Remove your protective clothing and wash thoroughly with soap and water. When washing used clothes, it is advisable to separate them from the rest of your laundry to be safe.
2. Mosquito Dunk And Bits:
These are small, slowly dissolving rings orbits thrown into the pool. They contain a bacterium called BACILLUS THURINGENSIS ISREALENSIS and are commonly called BTI. You can purchase it from Amazon with the following name MOSQUITO DUNKS OR MOSQUITO BITS.
Mosquito larvae in pools feed on the bacteria inside the pool, so introducing these stings is tantamount to providing them with poisonous food that they will not be able to resist. They eat them and suffer from gut poisoning, which eventually kills them. They are very efficient and affordable.
This disposal method does not affect water quality, so it is safe for swimmers and pets. It has been tested for its toxicity and potential to cause disease in humans and registered as “safe to use.” Government agencies have even applied it through air sprays.
3. Organophosphate Pesticide:
These chemicals attack the nervous system of pool mosquito larvae and adult insects. It can be applied to any pool & aquifer and has significant larval killing potential. Ideally, this type of treatment is used by professionals or public health professionals who can confirm that the product of choice has been approved for use.
Cinnamon Oil:
Cinnamon oil is a cheap kitchen spice used almost every day, and it is effective against mosquito larvae. You can make a 1% solution by mixing about eight teaspoons (1.3 fil oz / 40 ml) of pure cinnamon oil (available from Amazon) with 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water.
This solution can get sprayed on the surface of your pool. In addition to stopping the growth of mosquitoes, your swimming pool also smells great when you have completed this treatment.
5. Chlorination:
Chlorox is a popular antiseptic bleach available on Amazon, and it is resistant to sunlight, so it stays in your pool longer. It is another powerful household product that essentially controls mosquito larvae. The downside is that it can be harmful to wildlife or your pets when overused.
Bleach works by reducing the food available to the larvae, destroying the microorganisms they eat and not making the area suitable for females to lay their eggs. There will be no larvae to worry about if there are no mosquito eggs in pool.
6. Adding Vegetable Oil:
The use of oil creates a thin layer on the surface of your swimming pool. It prevents the pool mosquito larvae from gaining adequate access to air and suffocates them. It’s practical, but it has a drawback. It can colour the pool and make swimming uncomfortable. Therefore, after using this method, you may need to invest in a separate routine of cleaning your pool to remove the oil. In this regard, commercial mosquito control may be a better option than mineral oil.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has identified mineral oil and monomolecular fillers as control methods for mosquito larvae.
7. Dish Soap:
Another way to suffocate those who suck the blood of these children is to use dish soap. Dish soap works like a vegetable oil: by blocking the breathing tubes of mosquito larvae. One drop of soap is enough to treat one gallon of water. So if you have a 100-gallon pool, use 100 drops of soap.
The advantage of soap is that it is inexpensive and, in these concentrations, it will not spoil the appearance of your pool. The downside is that it is not a good choice for drinking water or fish.
8. Apple Cider Vinegar:
Apple cider vinegar is another effective way to kill mosquito babies in pool . Although it is not as effective as cinnamon oil, while cinnamon oil works almost instantly, apple cider vinegar takes about 18 hours to become effective. It needs to get added in a 15% to 85% water ratio like cinnamon oil. Less will not work.
Like cinnamon oil, apple cider vinegar is not suitable for fish ponds. However, it is perfectly safe for humans.
9. Hire An Expert:
Even if you follow the strategies described here, some backyards have unique conditions that cultivate large populations of mosquitoes. Your yard may have thick trees or heavy bushes. You can stay at the front door of space with lots of grass. Your property line may be in a swampy area or pond with aquatic plants that make up pockets of standing water. Any of these can lead to stubborn infections.
At this point, you may need a PRO. Pest control companies may be able to offer additional solutions. For example, their service technicians can apply pesticides to hard-to-reach areas, such as tall trees or certain types of building materials used to build your home.
A mosquito hunter can spot particular problems in your backyard and provide more sophisticated, aggressive methods. They often use a multi-pronged attack plan to help get rid of the pests and prevent their return.
How To Prevent Mosquitoes From Breeding In Pool Water?
1. Having A Clean Pool:
Mosquitoes and clean water do not mix well. They prefer wastewater reservoirs because the stench requires survival. You can achieve this by running your water filter for a few hours a day, using a skimmer to remove floating objects, and practising at least weekly backwashing (flushing the filter by reversing the flow).
2. Keep Your Pool Water Moving:
Again, remember that mosquitoes get attracted to stagnant or steady water. Therefore, installing the correct type of pump that produces constant vibrations in the pool’s water surface will prevent the adult female from landing and laying eggs. While this is an effective measure, it will not do much good if there are already eggs in the pool.
3. Keep Plants To A Minimum:
Note that mosquitoes do not need vast aquifers to replenish their population. Any environment with proper conditions is enough. Vegetables provide warmth around the pool area, An essential requirement for breeding mosquitoes. You want to make sure that you cut all the surrounding plants to a minimum.
4. Use A Secure Pool Cover:
Covers prevent beneficial pool chemicals from evaporating and insects from escaping. However, your pool cover is only adequate if it is safe. It means a thorough check for tears, cracks and gaps that could give mosquitoes access to the pool. It means removing the pool cover, so it does not act as a growth centre, especially in the rainy season.
5. Use Natural Repellent:
This method keeps mosquitoes away from your swimming pool. Natural remedies such as citronella oil, candles, or lanterns mask human odours, which are also attractive to mosquitoes. From Amazon, you can also invest in mosquito repellent plants such as rosemary, basil, mint, citronella scented geranium, marigold and lavender to keep them away from the pool area and your environment in general.
6. Chlorinate:
Polar chlorine, like CHLOROX, can inhibit the growth of mosquito larvae through their food – reducing algae and other microorganisms – but not necessarily kill them all. It does more to maintain the pool’s health by stopping the breeding of algae which would otherwise encourage the breeding of mosquitoes. Combining this method with filtration and general cleaning will yield the best results. Also, try not to use too much chlorine (pool shocking), especially if you or others swim too often. More on pool shocking later.
Most Asked Queries About Mosquito Control In Swimming Pools:
QUESTION NO 01: HOW TO KILL MOSQUITO LARVAE IN POOL?
One of the high-quality ways to hold mosquitoes far away from your pool is to take genuine care of them. At some stage in the summer months, run the pool pump every few hours to flow into the water. Ensure to chlorinate the pool and place it on a disinfectant surface, as this will help kill mosquito larvae. A few chemicals can often get introduced to the pool to kill mosquito larvae. MOSQUITO BITES: sturdy rings contains BTI, a toxic substance for mosquito larvae.
QUESTION NO 02: WHAT IS AN EXCELLENT CHEMICAL TO KILL MOSQUITOES?
The quality insect repellent for mosquitoes commonly carries one of 3 styles of chemical substances: pyrethroid, pyrethrin or melatonin. Pyrethrins are natural toxins that are concept to enter the frightened system of insects. Pyrethroids are artificial chemical substances that kill bugs, such as mosquitoes.
QUESTION NO 03: DO MOSQUITOES LIKE POOL WATER?
Water attracts mosquitoes. Mosquitos need to lay eggs in the water, from which the larvae hatch and swim in the water. Later, the larvae pupate and ultimately become a grown-up mosquitoes. But, they select still water, not flowing water. Whereas when your pond freezes, it draws mosquitoes and undesirable insects.
QUESTION NO 04: HOW TO GET RID OF MOSQUITO LARVAE IN POOL?
We recommend you to add BTI’S ORGANIC MATS to the water’s surface (also scientifically called Bacillus thuringiensis, subspecies israelensis). This product dissolves in water and kills the larvae within 12 hours of consuming this bacteria.
QUESTION NO 05: DOES CHLORINE KILL MOSQUITO LARVAE IN WATER?
Chlorine will kill mosquito larvae, but it is not a good approach because bleach is notably poisonous to the surroundings and different residing things. However, it’ll make paintings with water that isn’t meant for human or animal use, such as the B supply.
QUESTION NO 6: CAN MOSQUITO LAY EGGS IN POOL?
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, preferably standing water. If your pool has not been used for a while, you may find mosquito larvae, or ‘wrigglers’ as they as often referred to, enjoying an early spring or summer swim
QUESTION NO 07: CAN YOU SWIM IN A SWIMMING POOL FILLED WITH MOSQUITO LARVAE?
Yes, swimming with mosquito larvae in pools is safe. Mosquito larvae cannot bite. Their proboscis is not ready to sting and suck blood at the larval stage. But why would you want to swim in a pool full of mosquito larvae? They are small, and they can slip into your nose and ears.
It would be better to get mosquito larvae out of your pool instead of swimming.
QUESTION NO 08: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO KILL MOSQUITOES IN WATER?
It will take 30 days to save your pool from different mosquitoes and produce larvae inside the water.
