<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">I am very grateful for the good work being done by the Mosquito Control people. I think I recognize their plane by sight and by sound.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">I would be interested to know some facts about the plane and Mosquito Control in general. What is the plane, its crew size, its methods, etc.?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Calcasieu Parish Mosquito Control uses two planes — a Britten-Norman Islander and a Cessna 188 AGwagon — and averages 80-100 mosquito spray flights each year, said agency head Scott Willis.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Islander, equipped with a 30-gallon spray pod on each wing, can treat 13,000 or so acres per mission, Willis said. The AGwagon, with an insecticide capacity of 70-80 gallons, can treat a larger area and is used in rural communities, he said. The planes are flown by contract pilots, Willis said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A spray mission may involve as much as $15,000 worth of insecticide, he said. Mosquito Control sprays by plane “when mosquito populations are above average or for spraying for public health, mosquito-borne disease such as West Nile virus or other arboviruses that mosquitoes transmit to humans and animals.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Spray flights are always conducted 15 to 20 minutes after sunset. This is when mosquitoes are most active and pollinators are back in the hive,” Willis wrote in an email.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Also there is a temperature inversion of heat coming from the earth. Droplets are the size of hairspray — 30 microns — delivered at 300 feet. Spray before the temperature inversion and they will not hit the ground.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Other facts about Mosquito Control, according to the Calcasieu Police Jury’s website:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">The agency has 14 spray trucks.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">The parish has more than 90 spray zones for the trucks; each takes between two and four hours to treat.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Officials set spray schedules based on data gathered via daily inspections.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Each truck has a GPS monitor “to record all activity … including path of vehicle, speed at any given time, stops and spray on/off.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">The trucks can successfully apply insecticide while moving between 7 and 18 mph.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“All application equipment is regularly calibrated to assure the proper flow rate and droplet size at the time of application.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">Drivers aren’t allowed to deviate from the spray zones they’ve been assigned unless a supervisor says otherwise.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“The spray engines on the trucks remain running the entire time a spray zone is being traveled. However, only when the top lights are blinking is the spray switch activated.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Willis said that residents who are interested in Mosquito Control operations may call the office at 721-3780 to schedule a tour. The office is open 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“You’ll learn a lot more about Mosquito Control than I could every share by email,” he said.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.cppj.net.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>