Mosquito Control in Tampa Bay

Mosquitoes in Tampa Bay are two different problems. The county handles the big one: the salt marsh and floodwater mosquitoes that rise after a storm and the disease surveillance behind the aerial and truck treatments. A private company handles the yard: the Aedes mosquitoes that breed in a bottle cap of water under the bromeliad and bite at the lanai in daylight.

Both counties ran expanded treatments through the late summer of 2026 after locally acquired dengue cases, which is a reminder that the yard part is not cosmetic.

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What the county does

Hillsborough County Mosquito Management Services inspects, treats breeding sites, runs truck and aerial treatments by neighborhood and takes service requests by phone. Pinellas County Mosquito Control does the same for the peninsula, with requests by phone, email or the county app. Both publish treatment notices and alerts, and both respond to a complaint about standing water on a neighbor's property or a vacant lot.

Neither county treats inside your fence. A yard full of Aedes mosquitoes gets a county inspection and advice, and then it is yours or a private company's to fix.

What a private company does

A yard program starts with a walk-through for breeding sites: bromeliads, plant saucers, the kayak behind the shed, the clogged gutter, the tarp over the grill, the French drain, the bird bath, the pool cover. Dumping those weekly is the homeowner's part and it does more than any spray. The company then treats the places adults rest, the underside of leaves, the shaded hedges, the lanai screen and the eaves, with a residual product on a schedule through the season, and treats water that cannot be drained with a larvicide.

Misting systems on a timer around the lanai are sold around the bay; they put product into the air whether mosquitoes are present or not, and the label rules on drift and pollinators apply. Ask what is in the mist and how often it fires before installing one.

• Breeding-site inspection and a list of what to dump or fix
• Residual barrier treatment of resting sites on a schedule, usually every three to four weeks in season
• Larvicide in water that cannot be drained: drains, ponds, rain barrels
• Repairs to the pool cage and lanai screens, since the mosquitoes inside the cage got in through a tear
• Fire ants, whiteflies and lawn pests on the same visit, if the company is licensed for lawn and ornamental work

Season and timing

The rainy season runs from June into September, and mosquito numbers follow the rain by about a week. Treatments start in May and run through October in most yards, longer in a wet year. After a hurricane, the county's aerial work handles the floodwater species; the yard company handles what breeds in the debris and the standing water around the house.