Whitehorse begins its seasonal battle with mosquitoes

The City of Whitehorse has just finished three aerial drops of larvicide to control the mosquito population.

Matthew Sider, the city's acting manager of water and waste services, says the drops focused on wooded areas, which provide ideal breeding grounds.

"In order to feed mosquitoes or larvae there needs to be vegetation," he said.

"I know that there has been a lot of concern about Whistle Bend both in the storm runoff and the man-made pond, but what residents need to understand is that with no vegetation, the larvae and the eggs have no way of growing."

Sider says the aerial drops have hit wet areas in Porter Creek, Hillcrest, Riverdale and Copper Ridge. Crews will continue a ground-based mosquito larvicide program throughout the summer.

Whitehorse uses a biological larvicide called VectoBac 200G that contains a killed bacterium that specifically targets mosquitoes and biting flies.