Why PMPs Should Integrate IGRs for Mosquito Control

 

Pest management pros-in-the-know weighed in:

 

IGRs target the mosquitoes you can’t reach. An adulticide won’t kill mosquito larvae. Nor will it prevent adult mosquitoes from flying into a customer’s yard and laying eggs in hidden water sources. 

 

That’s why ABC Home & Commercial Services in Austin, Texas, uses OneGuard, a combination adulticide-IGR concentrate by MGK, for its initial mosquito control treatments. Besides knocking down adult mosquitoes, it targets “any mosquito larva that are in that area that are already existing that we may not reach with the adulticide,” said Brian Kelly, general manager of the company’s pest control division.

 

The IGR interrupts the mosquito life cycle and prevents adult mosquitoes from emerging, which increases your ability to reduce the mosquito population overall. “You can do a good job without IGRs but not a great job. By using an IGR, you’re taking your mosquito control program from good to great,” said Tommy Powell, a technical field representative for MGK who also led technical operations at large pest control companies. 

 

IGRs lessen the severity of outbreaks. In Marinette, Wisconsin, mosquitoes are bad. “It’s a war,” said Greg Loll, owner of Mosquitoes Be Gone, and heavy rains like those last summer only make the problem worse.

 

Mosquitoes that appear in early spring before leaves bud out are a particular challenge. Without foliage to target -- where mosquitoes typically rest -- treatment is less effective. As such, Loll now applies a stand-alone IGR at properties with standing water issues before leaves appear. “That reduces the number of mosquitoes from hatching, so right away I’m ahead of the game. It’s a good preseason treatment,” he said.

 

“The mosquito eggs can lay dormant all winter; they only need a little water and a little hot sun and the next thing you know they’re flying around,” reminded Loll. Proactively applying an IGR has made his team look professional and also “cut down the mosquitoes right from the get-go.” 

 

IGRs help reduce callbacks. In 2020, the average callback rate for mosquito control was 6 percent, according to the 2021 PCT State of Mosquito Control Market survey, which was sponsored by MGK and compiled by Readex Research, an independent research company in Stillwater, Minn. 

 

Using an IGR can lessen callbacks. “I think it has reduced them, for sure. Anytime you can reduce mosquitoes you can reduce the callbacks,” said Loll. Fewer callbacks and lower labor costs go hand-in-hand, which increases profitability. 

 

IGRs offer a potential new revenue stream. Customers are willing to pay extra for IGR treatment, said Loll, who began offering his pre-season mosquito IGR treatment as an add-on to his mosquito program after two years of field testing. “I’m happy with the results and now I’m going to open it up to all of my customers,” he said. 

 

Loll also uses MGK OneGuard concentrate for his monthly treatment programs because it contains an IGR. “I want to do anything I can to stop those pesky mosquitoes,” he said.