Eddy County Vector Control
Kelly Cox
South Road Department 410 E. Derrick Road Carlsbad, NM 88220 Phone: 575-885-4835 (Carlsbad) and 575-746-9540 (Artesia)
What is Vector Control?
Eddy County Vector Control is a public service aimed at the control of disease carriers. Our number one carrier and area of concern is the mosquito. Our Vector Control web pages are designed to help people recognize the importance of mosquito control, help identify the pests and how to control mosquitoes on their property.
There is a great need to control the mosquito population because they are responsible for spreading infectious diseases throughout the world. Even in the deserts of Eddy County we are concerned about disease spreading mosquitoes.
Mosquito Life Cycle
After a female mosquito receives a blood meal, it will look for a body of calm, still water to lay its eggs. It will either lay it's eggs on the surface of the water or on the surface surrounding the water, depending on the species.
Once the eggs hatch, they go through 4 aquatic larvae stages, then molt into the pupae stage and then emerge out of the water into mosquitoes. This process can take as little as 5 days.
Larvae grow from about 1/16 of an inch in the first stage to about 1/4 of an inch in the fourth stage. The larvae rest at the surface of the water, breathe through a siphon tube located at the end of their abdomen and dive to the bottom to feed on algae. Larvae will also dive to the bottom when disturbed and appear to "wiggle".
During the pupae stage, no feeding takes place but the pupae still rest at the water's surface to breathe. The siphon tube is now located on the top of the pupae.
Once an adult mosquito emerges, the average life span is about a month, but depending on the species it can be as short as a week or as long as 9 months.