Ah, summer! Warm weather, gardens, backyard barbecues and mosquitoes!
Nixa residents should soon see a reduction in the number of those pesky biting insects as the Nixa Department of Public Works continues its annual pesticide spraying program.
Jeff Roussell, streets department superintendent in Nixa, said crews will spray four days a week unless it's raining or winds exceed 10 mph. The city is divided into four sections on a map, with each section sprayed on a different day of the week.
The chemical used is MasterLine Kontrol 4. The active ingredients are permethrin and piperonyl butoxide. About 90% of what gets sprayed into the air is an inert oil mist.
“People shouldn’t be concerned or scared of what we’re spraying,” Roussell said. “Obviously, we want people to take whatever precautions they feel they need for themselves.”
Roussell said Nixa residents will see a flatbed truck with a tank on it driving every other street between 7 and 9 p.m. Ultra-low-volume spraying equipment will dispense a light fog of pesticide that kills adult insects, most notably mosquitoes. Public works crews will also place larvicides, called mosquito dunks, in bodies of water around the city to kill mosquitoes before they mature.
Residents can help with the effort by removing standing water, where mosquitoes can breed. Mosquito breeding can take less than 24 hours in some species.
Along with causing itchy skin irritation, mosquito bites can transmit diseases to humans and animals.
For more information and a map showing the days areas of Nixa are sprayed for mosquitoes, visit https://www.nixa.com/mosquito-control/.
