Permethrin and malathion were applied as salt marsh mosquito barrier sprays by mist-blower to the shrub border of a park. At one and 24 h after treatment, mosquito landing counts in both insecticide treated areas declined by 80-90% relative to counts in an untreated control area. After 48 h, in the malathion-treated area, mosquito activity returned to levels observed in the control area. From 2 to 8 days post-treatment, mosquito landing counts in the permethrin-treated area remained depressed and significantly (P less than 0.01) different from the malathion-treated and control areas. On days 9 and 10 post-treatment, mosquito landing rates returned to high levels in the insecticide-treated and control areas.