Sterile mosquito FAQ

We raise mosquitoes, remove the females, sterilize the males with X-rays and release them on a steady schedule: at home, twice a month in the warm months and one a month in winter. The sterile males mate with wild females, and those females lay eggs that don't hatch. Release enough sterile males and each generation is smaller than the last. Our males also find wild females where sprays and traps can't reach: gutters, drains and dense plants. How it works →

Chemical treatments, traps, zappers and repellents mostly deal with the mosquitoes already flying, and their effect wears off. Sterile males work at the source, keep working with each release, and affect only the species released. Compare options →

No. Only female mosquitoes bite, because they need blood to make eggs. Males feed on nectar.¹

It's the scientific name for this method: releasing sterile males to reduce a pest population. Public programs have used it for more than 60 years, against pests such as screwworm flies and Mediterranean fruit flies.² The science →

With X-rays, like a medical X-ray. Females are removed first, and X-ray sterilization is the last step before the males leave our facility. It leaves them able to fly and mate, but unable to father offspring.

You might, especially near release points in the first weeks. Those are our males. They don't bite, they live a few days, and they mostly stay within a couple of hundred meters of where they're released.³

The species that bite in yards by day and at dusk: the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes). It does not affect night-biting mosquitoes, which are a different species.

No. It reduces the two species we release. Night-biting mosquitoes aren't affected, and mated females can still fly in from untreated areas nearby, which is why we release across a buffer.

Most stay close. Asian tiger mosquitoes rarely travel more than a few hundred feet in their lives,⁴ and released males settle near where they find food and shelter, which is usually your yard. Some will drift next door, and we plan releases so your yard stays the focus. Since our males don't bite, your neighbor gets fewer mosquitoes too.

Yes. The CDC says irradiated mosquitoes cannot make people or animals, including pets, sick.¹ There's no residue on the lawn, toys or water bowls.

No. Male mosquitoes only mate with their own species, and nothing is applied to the flowers pollinators visit.

No. The males are not genetically modified, and the CDC says irradiated mosquitoes are not.¹ We don't add genes or bacteria.

No. The males are sterilized with X-rays, like a medical X-ray. The X-rays pass through them the way they pass through you. They don't keep any of it and can't pass it on.

The CDC lists fish and birds among the animals irradiated mosquitoes cannot make sick.¹ Our releases add no chemicals to the food chain, and they reduce two closely related mosquito species, the Asian tiger and yellow fever mosquitoes, not insects in general. No product goes into ponds or pools.

Lee County's public program set a limit of 0.2% or less; SMF meets the same standard.² Females are removed before sterilization, so one that slips through is sterile too and adds no next generation.

Published US programs say yes, for the species released. A Florida public program using the same method as SMF reported up to 79% fewer adults and 59% fewer eggs in its first release phase (about 63 ha, 2020 to 2021), compared with an untreated island. Results depend on release design, and these are that program's results, shown as evidence for the method.¹ See the research →

Yes. In a 2019 study near Houston, the CDC and Harris County Public Health found 93% fewer wild female mosquitoes after six weeks of male-mosquito releases. That study used a related method (Wolbachia).²

You should start to feel the difference within 7 to 14 days, and it keeps improving from there: 93% fewer wild females after six weeks in one Texas study of a related method.²

Because mosquitoes don't live long. Outdoors, most adults live only a week or two, and new ones are always hatching to replace them. When most eggs don't hatch, that replacement stops, so each generation is smaller than the last. (Field survival data: Brady et al., Parasites & Vectors, 2013.)

Those are almost certainly our sterile males near the release point. They don't bite and they're gone in a few days.

Yes. Mated females can fly in from untreated yards nearby. In one Florida program, results faded in expanded areas where females moved in from outside.¹ That's why we release across a buffer, and why HOAs and neighbors who sign up together tend to see the strongest results.

No. There's nothing on your plants to wash off. Rain does fill containers where mosquitoes breed, so tipping out standing water still helps.

Days to weeks, and less after heavy rain, according to Texas A&M AgriLife and field research.³ ⁴ Sterile males leave nothing to wash off. Sterile males vs mosquito spraying →

It depends on the size of your yard or property, so every program is quoted for your property. Tell us about it and we'll reply within one business day. Prefer to talk it through? Book a 30-minute call. Get a quote → Book a call →

All year: twice a month in the warm months, and one plate a month in winter. Released males live only a few days, so a steady supply keeps them meeting wild females as they emerge.

No. There's no appointment. At home, a release plate arrives twice a month in the warm months and one a month in winter. Follow the instructions, open it in your yard, done. It takes about a minute. On commercial properties, our team can handle every release on site, or your staff can release the plates themselves with our instructions. There's no re-entry time.

Any time. Programs run year-round, so the best start is now: winter releases keep the population from rebuilding, and spring starts quiet. For an event, start releases at least 4 weeks before a major event, because the effect builds over weeks.

Yes: venues and restaurants, HOAs and communities, resorts and hotels, farms and ranches, and golf courses. Larger, contiguous properties are where sterile males work especially well. We plan around your guests, events and opening hours, with no closures. Commercial programs →

Your plan, billing and any commitment are set out in your quote and agreement, so you see them before you start. Commercial programs run on a 12-month agreement that renews automatically. Either way, you can cancel anytime under our satisfaction guarantee (next answer).

You should start to feel the difference within 7 to 14 days, and it keeps improving from there. If you don't, our satisfaction guarantee has you covered, on home, commercial and farm programs. On commercial programs, we also adjust the release plan with you, add males at hotspots or widen the buffer.

Not once releases start, because anything that kills mosquitoes also kills the sterile males doing the work. If you want one last treatment, do it at least one week before your first release. Personal repellent on your skin is fine.

The CDC states that irradiated mosquitoes "are not genetically modified."¹ It also says they cannot make people or animals sick.

No Texas pest-control license is required for our releases, per the Texas Department of Agriculture.

The CDC doesn't approve mosquito control companies. It describes the sterile insect technique on its website, including that irradiated mosquitoes are not genetically modified.¹

We don't make health claims. Our programs reduce local populations of the mosquito species we release. For health guidance, follow the CDC and your county health department.

Yes, if you're anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex or the towns around it: any ZIP within 60 miles of Dallas or Fort Worth. Service area →

We serve the whole Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the towns around it. Outside it, we work through pilots with cities and districts and through partners. Partners →

Yes. We design measured pilot programs for cities and districts. For municipalities →

No. We quote every yard, whatever its size. Smaller yards do better when neighbors join, because the program covers a larger, contiguous area.