The major mosquito breeding area near the Alice Springs municipal area is Il Parpa swamp (soon to be
included in the town boundary). The Alice Springs mosquito monitoring program, which has operated since
1980, has shown that in each year the swamp has produced more than the standard acceptable threshold
of 100 man-biting mosquitoes/ trap night for most months in Spring and Summer. Many catches produce
more than a thousand man-biting mosquitoes per trap night eg in January 1988 more than 4000 Culex
annulirostris were trapped near the new sewage ponds in one trap in one night.
The increasing Alice Springs population is expected to cause heavier loads on the sewerage system and more
effluent to be released into the swamp. Also, more people can be expected to live within the flight range
of the mosquitoes breeding in the swamp, including those people living at the new Il Parpa subdivision.