Gloucester crews began spraying for mosquitoes for the first time this season Tuesday night, according to Wes McIntyre, who heads the county’s mosquito control program.

Landing counts will be taken regularly to determine when mosquito spraying will be conducted, McIntyre said. Spraying cannot take place when it rains or is very windy, he said.

The mosquito spraying began in “a very limited capacity” where counts warranted, McIntyre said.

Mosquito control measures are provided only in designated portions of the county where residents pay an ad valorem tax of 1 cent per $100 of assessed property value.

McIntyre said that all of the mosquito control districts are regularly checked by landing counts by the control drivers and by several mosquito traps. When the numbers are warranted, mosquito control spraying takes place; the county has two spray trucks and two part-time drivers.

Earlier in the season, county crews placed larvicide briquettes in a number of ditches. ...