Silver Spring business releases 600,000 infected mosquitoes in DC area

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Silver Spring business releases 600,000 infected mosquitoes in DC area

Silver Spring business releases infected mosquitoes in DC-area

It鈥檚 an innovative way to control the D.C. area鈥檚 mosquito population. For the first time, a Silver Spring, Maryland, business is releasing hundreds of thousands of infected mosquitoes this summer.

鈥淲e鈥檙e releasing 600,000 in total within the DMV for 2026,鈥� said Todd Montgomery, owner of Bee Safe Mosquito Control. 鈥淗opefully, we鈥檒l increase that for next season.鈥�

They鈥檙e releasing male mosquitoes infected with the gut bacteria Wolbachia, called ZAP males. Males don鈥檛 bite, and when a ZAP male mates with a female mosquito, she will no longer be able to produce offspring.

鈥淲hen they mate with a female, they actually cause that female to then become infertile for the rest of her life,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 going around laying eggs that will never hatch.鈥�

The program targets the aggressive Asian Tiger Mosquito, one of the most common species in the D.C. area, which can transmit Dengue Fever, Zika and Yellow Fever.

ZAP males are shipped from Kentucky-based MosquitoMate, which has nationwide EPA approval to use the mosquitoes as a biopesticide. The technology is relatively new in the United States but has already proven successful internationally.

鈥淚n parts of South America, they have reduced Dengue [fever] cases by over 98% using Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淭he introduction of males in order to control the population is a technique that has been tried time and time again. And it鈥檚 worked really well against many species.鈥�

Google鈥檚 parent company Alphabet has plans to release up to 32 million Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in California and Florida as part of its Debug program. Bee Safe Mosquito Control is the only company offering this service in our region.

鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely the first in the DMV to do this,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a tiny, small business that started four years ago. So it鈥檚 super cool that we鈥檙e at the forefront of it.鈥�

The company began releasing ZAP males in early June and will continue through September. The service costs about $1,000 and the business has already sold out for the season.

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Linh Bui

Linh most recently worked at WJZ in Baltimore as a reporter and anchor from 2013-2023 and is now teaching at the University of Maryland. Prior to moving to the D.C. region, Linh worked as a reporter and anchor at stations in Fort Myers, Fla. and Macon, Ga.