Reporter: Bridget Bruchalski
•7/8/2026
NAPLES, Fla. (WINK)—Collier County is dealing with one of its biggest salt marsh mosquito explosions in nine years.
"We've been there for four years, and it's been worse and worse every day," said Aline Siquiera, a Naples neighbor.
"We were all swatting each other. It would have been a comedy," said Joe Beerens, a Naples visitor.
Swat, slap, repeat. It's the unofficial Florida workout.
"You'd squish them, and you get a little drop of blood, so it wasn't as though they were just like, you know, on you, they're they were biting you, they were, they were sucking blood," Beerens said.
The Collier Mosquito Control District says this year isn't just annoying. Siquiera described the situation as unbearable.
"Oh my god, you cannot be outside," Siquiera said. "When I come in, my kids have bites on them. I have my legs are itchy."
Helicopters are deployed to carry over 700 pounds of BTI larvicide, a kitty-litter-like product, which is then flown over areas where mosquitoes are actively breeding.
"The helicopter will fly just above the treetops, because the purpose is to get that material into the water," said Dr. Kiera Lucas, deputy executive director of Collier Mosquito Control District.
Once the product hits the water, the larvae consume it. "The larvae will consume that material, and then it'll impact their development, and they won't grow into biting flying adults," Lucas said. "It's really only effective for mosquitoes and black flies, so it's kind of the silver bullet when it comes to mosquito control."
When mosquitoes are already in the air, there's a plan for that too. Neighbors may have seen a second helicopter flying overhead.
"They're going to see this larger helicopter applying that product typically in the early morning hours, right around sunrise," Lucas said.
The helicopter sprays an organic adulticide with an active ingredient from chrysanthemum flowers. "We use it for salt marsh mosquitoes. It's really effective, many of the areas around Everglades City, Port of the Islands, Marco Island," Lucas said.
Siquiera appreciates the effort to protect the community.
"I do love that they're taking care of and protecting us," Siquiera said.
