KFGO | Paul Jurgens
Aug 27, 2020 3:22 PM
FARGO (KFGO) – Cass County Vector Control is taking responsibility for the deaths of thousands of monarch butterflies across Fargo-Moorhead, the result of aerial spraying for mosquitoes.
Director Ben Prather says with mosquito numbers high and the threat of West Nile Virus, the demise of the butterflies was an unfortunate consequence.
“It is sad for us to contend with, but certainly across the metrics that we look at for our control policy, when it comes to adult spraying, we hit just about every one and the application (Wed. night) was to 100% of specification and certainly got a good result we hope for the mosquito control and we have to accept the reality,” Prather explained.
Prather says about 100 square miles were covered in the latest round of aerial spraying.
He says he was overwhelmed by complaints about mosquito numbers ahead of the application and now he’s hearing from people upset about the butterflies. Prather says the pesticide used is the least toxic available.