If daytime temperatures are consistently reaching the mid-50s and you're starting to see insects, that is the right time to start treating. In Metro Detroit, that usually means late April or early May.
Why pay for a mosquito treatment when you don’t see mosquitoes? It’s hard to argue with the logic. But make no mistake: early-season mosquito treatment is one of the highest-value decisions you can make, and there are good reasons for saying this.
Mosquitoes that survive the winter, either as adults in sheltered spots or as eggs waiting in dormant breeding sites, start becoming active as temperatures warm. The first generation of the season is small. They lay plenty of eggs, though, with each female of that first generation able to lay 100–200 eggs. Those eggs then go on to produce biting adults in 7–14 days. Within a few breeding cycles, that small starting population has multiplied dramatically.
A treatment applied in late April or early May targets that first generation before it has a chance to reproduce. Basically, you stop them from being born.
You can see something very similar play out with ticks. Blacklegged tick nymphs become active in May, and they’re responsible for the majority of Lyme disease transmission because they are so small and easy to miss. It’s a good idea to treat your yard before nymph populations take off, partly to reduce your risk of illness and partly to prevent the adult tick population from exploding later in the season.
The only scenario where treatment is too early is if temperatures are still regularly below freezing at night. In Metro Detroit, the last frost is usually mid-to-late April.
If you're tired of playing catch-up with mosquitoes and ticks every summer, Mosquito Squad of Metro Detroit can help. Starting treatments early gives you a head start on the season, and regular re-treatments every 21 days maintain that advantage all the way through fall.
