Dengue mosquitoes — Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus — prefer clean, still water in containers, and they rarely fly far from where they hatched. That is good news: the breeding sites feeding a household mosquito problem are almost always on the property itself, and most can be emptied in seconds.
Start at roof level
Blocked gutters hold water for weeks and are invisible from the ground. A gutter that drips long after the rain stops is blocked, and it is breeding mosquitoes the whole time.
Work the ground
Plant saucers are the most productive breeding site in most gardens — empty them weekly or fill them with sand. Check discarded containers, buckets, tyre swings, pet bowls left out, tarpaulins with folds, and the tray under the fridge where defrost water collects. Anything that holds a cup of water for five days can produce adults.
Water that cannot be emptied
Some water cannot be emptied: ornamental ponds, wells, rainwater tanks. Ponds can carry fish that eat larvae. Tanks and wells can be screened or treated with a fish-safe larvicide — a job where it is worth asking before adding anything to water people use.
A weekly fifteen-minute round
Make the round a weekly habit, on the same day, and it takes fifteen minutes. Do it before a fogging treatment and the treatment actually holds; skip it and the fog only clears the adults flying that evening, with the next generation already in the water.