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Choose IPM: Mosquito Prevention

June 2025

Mosquitoes are a nuisance pest because they bite people and can transmit diseases like West Nile Virus. For successful management of mosquitoes, it is important to break their life cycle by removing standing water used for their breeding sites, which stops their eggs from becoming adults and biting people. Check out DPR's School IPM Program's resources on safe and effective sustainable mosquito management practices.

Mosquito IPM at schools

Managing mosquitoes at schools is important because they can transmit diseases, and their bites lead to irritation, annoyance, and allergic reaction. Mosquitoes depend on standing water to complete their life cycle, so it is important to remove these sources of water. To view our Mosquito IPM at Schools infographic, click the "View Infographic" button below.

Mosquito IPM around your home

Rather than using pesticide sprays, which target adult mosquitos and don't provide long term control, focus on removing sources of water around your schools and homes to prevent them from becoming a problem. To view our Mosquito IPM at Homes infographic, click the "View Infographic" button below.

Additional Resources

Your local vector control agency can provide additional resources. Check out the website below for more details.

What is IPM?

Integrated pest management, or IPM, is a sustainable pest management strategy you can use everyday. IPM focuses on a variety of pest prevention and non-toxic or least-toxic pest management techniques to effectively solve pest problems. IPM strategies use practices that exclude pests so they can’t cause problems and use pesticides only as a last resort. By using integrated pest management practices, it’s possible to effectively, safely, and more sustainably manage pests at your school or child care center while protecting staff, children, and the environment. 

What is SPM?

Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) is a holistic, whole-system approach applicable in agricultural and other managed ecosystems and urban and rural communities that builds on the concept of integrated pest management (IPM) to include the wider context of the three sustainability pillars: Human Health & Social Equality, Environmental Protections, and Economic Vitality.

Follow DPR's social media outlets throughout the year to learn more!

Questions? Contact Us:

Please contact the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s IPM Branch by emailing school-ipm@cdpr.ca.gov. For additional information about the School IPM Program please visit DPR’s website.

Who We Are

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation protects human health and the environment by fostering safer and sustainable pest management practices and operating a robust regulatory system to monitor and manage the sale and use of pesticides across the state. DPR’s work includes registering all pesticides sold or used in California, conducting scientific evaluation of pesticides to assess and mitigate potential harm to human health or the environment, investing in innovative research to encourage the development and adoption of integrated pest management tools and practices, monitoring for pesticides in the air and water, conducting outreach to ensure pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities have access to safety information, and enforcing pesticide regulations in coordination with 55 County Agricultural Commissioners and their 500 field inspectors.