About
Mosquitoes picked the wrong hill.
Mosquito season in DC is awful.
We’re done complaining about it.
The Itty Bitty Mosquito Committee is a grassroots neighborhood effort focused on spray-free mosquito prevention and control. We started this March on Capitol Hill, and it grew fast. Turns out we’re not alone in our suffering.
We’re inspired by the University Park Community Mosquito Control Program in nearby Maryland, which achieved meaningful reductions in mosquito populations through community participation rather than pesticide spraying. Spraying kills indiscriminately, wiping out the natural predators that keep mosquito populations in check, and populations bounce back fast. The lasting solution is to work with the ecosystem, not against it.
Our approach combines source reduction (tossing and treating standing water) and trapping with community education, native habitat investment, and working with the city on the standing water we can’t reach ourselves, like catch basins and damaged trash bins.
Our goal is simple: reduce the mosquito population on our properties and in our neighborhood. The more neighbors participate, the more effective we all are.
New here? Start with our community kickoff
Hear the origin story, see traps in action, and get your questions answered.
Dr. Bart Knols, a world-leading mosquito researcher, explains the science behind why this approach works. It’s the fastest way to understand what we’re doing and why.
Now we’re measuring it.
Community participation is essential for mosquito control, and notoriously hard to achieve. The engagement we’ve seen on Capitol Hill and across DC caught the attention of local university researchers. This fall, they sampled mosquitoes across Capitol Hill, comparing blocks with high and low participation, and they’re sampling catch basins next. Results will go on our Impact page, whatever they show.
We’re not scientists, but we do have an unusually high concentration of data nerds, mapping gurus and public-health wonks in the neighborhood who couldn’t help themselves. Alongside the research, we track trap locations, standing water reports, and block captain coverage in the portal. The goal is to learn what’s working, make the case for city programs that expand it, and build a model other communities can use.