Mosquitoes in North Texas are active from late March through October. Only females bite, because they need a blood meal to produce eggs. They spend the heat of the day resting in shaded ornamentals and fence lines, not in the open lawn, which is why treating the shade is what actually works.
What Do Mosquitoes Look Like?
Small, long-legged flies with a needle-like proboscis. The two species that matter most here are the southern house mosquito, which is brown and bites at dusk and dawn, and the Asian tiger mosquito, which is black with white striping on its legs and will bite all day in shade.
- Southern house mosquito: brown, dusk and dawn biter, the main West Nile carrier here
- Asian tiger mosquito: black with white leg stripes, bites in daylight, breeds in containers
- Both breed in standing water, and neither needs much of it
Are Mosquitoes Dangerous?
In Tarrant County the practical risk is West Nile virus, which peaks in August and September. Most people who get it have no symptoms, a smaller share get a fever, and a very small share get seriously ill. It is a real risk worth reducing, not a reason to panic. Mosquitoes here do not carry malaria.
Why Is My Yard Full of Mosquitoes?
Standing water and shade. A mosquito can complete its life cycle in a bottle cap of water in about a week, so plant saucers, clogged gutters, tarps, toys, bird baths and French drains matter more than the nearby creek does. The adults then rest in dense, shaded, humid planting during the day.
How Do You Get Rid of Mosquitoes?
Empty everything that holds water every week, which is free and the single highest-return step. Then treat the resting habitat: a barrier fog through ornamentals, shrub beds and fence lines every 21 days through the season, plus larvicide in any water that cannot be drained.
Where the fog goes: the shaded resting spots, not the open lawn.
A full-season program, eight treatments April through September, about $400 to $750 for the season, roughly $49 to $79 per visit. No contract.
See Mosquito, Flea & Tick
