LAKEPORT, Calif. – Spring is here and the Lake County Vector Control District has a few reminders to help you make this summer more enjoyable for you and your family.

Mosquitoes

Recent rains have filled Clear Lake as well as the containers in our yards. Mosquitoes need still water to grow. Dump out any water from your wheelbarrows, boats, gardening pots and planters, and tarps. Also remember to look for water in your children’s toys like wagons, pails, and wading pools and dump those out, too.

The district has been treating for immature mosquitoes to reduce the number of biting adults in the coming weeks. Spraying for biting mosquitoes started this week. If you are being bit by mosquitoes, you can request help by calling the Lake County Vector Control District at 707-263-4770 or online at www.LCVCD.org.

Mosquitofish will be available in May

If you have animal stock tanks, water gardens, fountains, or plan to take a break from maintaining your pool or spa, then stop by the Lake County Vector Control District’s main office to pick up mosquito-eating fish. Please call first to make sure that we have fish available.

If you picked up mosquitofish in past years, then you may still have them! Mosquitofish hibernate in the cooler months but come out again when the sun is out and the water warms up. Look for them on warmer days when the sun is warming the water where they live.

Yellowjacket wasps

Did you have yellowjackets crash your barbecue last year? Yellowjacket wasps, also known as “meat bees,” can become pests as their colonies grow large in the summer. You can prevent new yellowjacket colonies by setting out yellowjacket traps now to catch the queens. Every queen yellowjacket you catch now prevents thousands of her offspring from pestering you this summer.

If you find an underground nest of yellowjacket wasps in your yard, Vector Control can treat that for you at no charge (they cannot treat for paper wasps, honey bees or any wasps nesting in a building or structure). Call 707-263-4770 or visit www.LCVCD.org.

What about the rice flies?

Rice flies is the local name for the chironomid midges that emerge several times a year from Clear Lake.

The good news is that rice flies are harmless and cannot bite. They spend most of their lives as bloodworms in the squishy mud at the bottom of Clear Lake until they become adult rice flies and emerge by the millions.

We usually notice them resting on buildings during the day, swarming near dusk and dawn, or flying around lights at night. Each rice fly dies two to three days after emerging — just long enough to mate and lay a batch of eggs. They don’t even eat anything.

During an emergence, more rice flies come out of the lake every day to replace the ones that died. Most rice fly emergences last seven to 10 days, but may be affected by weather and water temperatures.

Vector Control doesn’t recommend using pesticides to control rice flies because they will die in less than three days (unlike mosquitoes that live for weeks or even months).

What is Vector Control?

The Lake County Vector Control District is an independent special district that conducts surveillance and control of mosquitoes, West Nile virus, and other vectors and the diseases they transmit.

The Lake County Vector Control District’s Board of Trustees meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at 410 Esplanade, Lakeport. All meetings are open to the public.

Residents with questions or who would like help with a mosquito problem, including reporting a neglected pool or spa, or who have an in-ground yellowjacket nest on their property that they would like treated, should contact the Lake County Vector Control District at 707-263-4770 or submit a request to www.LCVCD.org.

For more information about West Nile virus or to report a dead bird, visit https://westnile.ca.gov/. Information about mosquito repellents can be found on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov/westnile/faq/repellent.