By: Faith Oi, foi@ufl.edu

As other parts of the U.S. head into Fall, we still have a couple more months of summer in Florida and the rest of the Southeast! Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 1 and it has been an active weather year.

If you live in an area that is home to “floodwater mosquitoes” as well as “standing water mosquitoes” or “container breeding mosquitoes,” you will need to adopt an Integrated Mosquito Management strategy (IMM). Some facts that may help you to persuade customers to adopt IMM:

  • “…one female floodwater mosquito has the potential to lay 200 eggs per batch…in moist areas of pastures, citrus furrows, salt-marsh, and swales…” (ENY-719)
  • “There are estimates of the number of mosquito eggs in a floodwater habitat between 0.7 and 1.3 million eggs per acre.” (ENY-719)
  • There are over 80 mosquito species in Florida. Florida’s “most wanted” include (ENY-753):
    • Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito and Aedes albopictus, Asian tiger mosquito. Vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses
    • Culex quinquefasciatus, Southern house mosquito. Vector of dog heartworm, St. Louis encephalitis virus, West Nile virus.
    • Aedes taeniorhynchus, Black salt marsh mosquito. Vector of dog heartworm.
    • Psorophora ciliate, “Gallinipper.” Not a known vector, but bites!
Figure 1. “Egg raft containing over 200 eggs. The actual size of the raft is about the same as a grain of rice.” Photo: R. Connelly. ENY-753.
Helpful resources:
Upcoming Training Opportunities

 Taking the state exam with PMU? To qualify, you must:

  1. Take the Foundations and Masters courses for GHP, WDO, or L&O

  2. Fill out an application package for the certified operator exam online at least one week before the exam

Please refer to the FDACS website for reference study materials.

Materials produced by UF/IFAS can be found at the IFAS Bookstore website.

We have been allowed to restore our 2.5 day in-person format. Please limit your registrations to no more than 2 per company and agree to the following conditions that are in place out of an abundance of care for you, your family, friends, and customers. If you cannot agree to the conditions below, please do not register at this time. We are allowed to hold the in-person state exam. Please contact Faith if you have questions (foi@ufl.edu).

In-person dates.
Sept 16-18, L&O Foundations (webinars in progress. This is still a hybrid.)
Sept 23-25, GHP Foundations
Sept 30 to Oct 2, Termite Masters with optional state exam
Oct 21-23, GHP Masters with optional state exam
Nov 4-6, L&O Masters with optional state exam

Registration and descriptions for all courses here: https://pestmanagementuniversity.org/courses/
 

CONDITIONS. PLEASE READ:

  • Limited class sizes to allow for social distancing.
  • Face covering worn at all times.
  • Social distancing maintained.
  • No admittance if you are sick.
  • Frequent hand washing.
  • We reserve the right to cancel the class with full refund to you if the COVID-19 health risks are too great.
  • We may change the venue to another central Florida area that would allow for even more social distancing.
  • “Worry-free cancellation” (full-refund) for you within 48-hours of the class if you are not comfortable.
  • Take UF screening survey via email before attending with disclaimer that we are taking all reasonable precautions to ensure safety, but because it is a public space we cannot guarantee it.
  • Adhere to UF Health guidance—this can change as COVID-19 situation changes.
#BeyondTheLabel Webinar Series—still FREE!


October 13, 2020, Zach DeVries, University of Kentucky, The allergenic threats of insects (FL and GA 1 GHP CEU).

Registration for all IN-PERSON, Webinar and online courses here: https://pestmanagementuniversity.org/courses/