Once a site is deemed unfit for ground larvicide treatment, it’s a team effort to determine whether to use manned or unmanned aerial application.


Fact sheets for the field inspectors define flight distance, battery life, and application information to determine what to use. During the “decision tree” work, they also consult the aerial field inspector who conducts inspections along the coastline and into mangroves.


For example, the field and aerial inspectors work together to find locations where mosquitoes are laying eggs that may hatch. Once they identify mosquito larval habitat, they work with a biologist and chief pilot to develop a plan to determine which aircraft will fit best.


“Everything is based upon time and weather and includes tides,” Lefkow said. “It’s all based upon the water and when they are hatching as adults.” If they wait too long or use the wrong application method, he said they could miss killing the larvae before they hatch, and the problem could worsen.


It takes a variety of methods to attack mosquitoes. Adulticides are insecticides used to kill adult mosquitoes, while larvicides kill immature mosquitoes, specifically the larvae and pupae. Helicopters use spray tanks containing either liquid or granular larvicide formulations. UAS use larvicide only in a granular


62 Jan/Feb 2025


form. Recently the district spread larvicide on 40 acres using a drone instead of a helicopter because power lines crisscross the area. UAS battery power can limit their use in larger areas, so they carry extra batteries.


Piloting UAS requires training and Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification. Pilots can earn degrees from community colleges and universities


or obtain in-house training. When they


deploy new systems, pilots receive training from the drone manufacturer.


Since the industry and its technology is rapidly developing, pilots must continually retrain. There are webinars, seminars, and community engagement opportunities to help pilots evolve.


Looking forward, LCMCD plans to establish protocols for the unmanned aerial release of sterile male mosquitoes produced by its in-house Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) Department.


This technique involves producing and sterilizing male mosquitoes in a lab, and then overwhelming a wild population of healthy females with sterile suitors. The males act as tiny homing missiles programmed to seek out female mosquitoes wherever they may hide, perhaps pollinating a few flowers along the way. The females are unaffected by the sterile males, except that the eggs they produce from this exchange will not be viable. This biological pest-control technique significantly


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