Summer is a great time to enjoy your patio and lawn. Except when you step outside and immediately start swatting at the mosquitoes. And are those more mosquitoes biting your ankles that you have to kick away with your feet? You already spend so much time keeping your yard beautiful. But your sprawling bushes and shady trees -- even watering -- might be inviting mosquitoes that can bite you all day and evening.
We hear you at Animal & Insect Pest Management Inc, homeowners. AIPM has been getting more calls for help now that mosquitoes, especially ankle-biters, are out in force.
The good news is that mosquitoes stay close to their breeding sites, so keeping your property free of those sites can reduce mosquitoes while you enjoy your lawn parties and evening patio. An inspection by a qualified mosquito technician can pinpoint problem areas and suggest a plan to control them.
Standing Water, the Breeding Grounds that Homeowners Miss
Mosquitoes need two things to breed. Females need your blood, a nutrient-rich beverage that feeds their eggs (mosquitoes also drink sweet stuff like nectar for their regular energy needs). And they need standing water to lay eggs in. Mosquitoes glue their eggs together like rafts or to the side of a container to protect them. The eggs develop under water and slip away as adults in a few days to weeks. You can sometimes see their larvae wiggling around in the water.
One way to keep mosquitoes from setting up their homes near yours is to look for and get rid of standing water around your property.
Flowerpots and their bases, neglected fountains, old tires, uneven spots on the lawn, and roots around trees are all great places for water to pool in.
"Mosquitoes only need about a bottle cap full of water to lay their eggs," says AIPM's field technician Mike Campbell. "Try to make sure there is no standing water around your property, especially after watering or rain."
Unlike a map, mosquitoes don't see the boundary between your yard and your neighbor's yard, so your neighbor's standing water might be your mosquito problem. A pest technician can help you find problems that you don't regularly notice, whether on your property or nearby.
An environmentally friendly product called In2Care lures and eliminates mosquitoes looking for a breeding site. Technicians set up and maintain an appropriate number of In2Care mosquito stations in your yard. The water-filled stations hold mesh loaded with ingredients that attract egg-laying mosquitoes and interfere with their offspring’s growth. The stations also include a fungus that female adult mosquitoes take back to the breeding nest to kill off the mosquitoes there.
Be warned, though. Homeowners see a device that promises to eliminate mosquitoes and they might think "closer is better" to their evening gathering. Not so. A bucket of standing water is not something you should keep on your patio. Techs position stations about 50 feet away, and they should stay there.
General insect service vs mosquitoes
Many homeowners already hire pest control professionals for insects around their house. Wouldn't that service take care of mosquitoes as well?
AIPM's Field Manager Kevin De La Riva says mosquito and insect control focus on different things. Insect technicians will spray around buildings and other structures or apply insecticide products around the perimeter of the home. Mosquitoes, though, hide in shaded areas like bushes, where it's cool. Controlling them requires spraying on the undersides of leaves, and yards need to be inspected for standing water to keep mosquitoes at bay.
"We're often using different products too, so they're not the same sprays, and they're definitely not the same locations," Kevin says.
Daytime Mosquitoes
Mosquito bites are itchy and annoying, but they can also transmit viruses and other germs that give you or your pet diseases. The viruses include dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses, and a parasite that can give your dog heartworm.
And today's mosquitoes aren't your grandparents' swarm. Old-timer Culex mosquitoes, such as typical house mosquitoes, have been in southern California forever. They roam at dawn and dusk and forage again after dark, annoying homeowners in the evenings. The more aggressive and tiny Aedes mosquitoes moved in from Asia and emerge during the day.
Hard-to-see Aedes aegypti mosquitoes jab through clothes, especially tight-fitting material such as spandex. They bite your ankles and feet, often multiple times. Called ankle-biters, they came from Asia with their cousin, Aedes albopictus, which are known as tiger mosquitoes. According to the California Department of Public Health May 2026 update, the tiger-striped Ae. albopictus haven't been seen in most of southern California in years, but the ankle-biters and house mosquitoes are widespread.
Ready to enjoy your yard again without constantly getting bitten? Schedule a free inspection and find out what's keeping those mosquitoes around.
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