There is an ominous buzz in the air these days and it’s coming from swarms of pesky biters hungry for blood.
“The rainfalls towards the end of May definitely triggered some hatching in the region,” said Mike Jenkins, city of Edmonton biological sciences technician. “It definitely filled up a lot of the little low-lying areas around, especially in the rural areas.”
All that water provided a perfect breeding ground for the blood suckers. Due to the weather, the number of mosquitoes has been above average for June, contrasting with the extremely low numbers that were recorded during the dry days in April and early May.
Much of the mosquito population in the area usually comes in on northwest winds but recently the biting bugs have been from the northeast because of heavier rainfall in that area.
Jenkins said the dry spring conditions delayed early hatches but recent rains have led to simultaneous spring and summer crops of the insects.
What does this mean? Simply that the buzzers are out in full force at dusk and dawn as well as throughout the daytime hours. Jenkins said that the spring usually brings a mix of species that are most active in the daytime because of the cool temperatures of dusk and dawn. They usually drop out of the population as the days get warmer and are replaced by the summer batch.
He said this year’s round-the-clock activity is not going to last all summer though, as the daytime biters have already begun to clear out.
Jenkins has some tips for how to handle the pests. He said the best way to avoid the mosquitoes is to avoid carbon-dioxide producing exercise while outdoors during their peak activity times, which are usually dusk and dawn.
While waiting for the daytime biters to fall away and during those peak summer times, people can wear long sleeves and pants and avoid grass and shaded areas to limit the bites.
Jenkins said a really effective way of avoiding bites for adults is to use repellents containing DEET. There are also special repellents for children.
One advantage of the mass hatching of spring and summer mosquitoes is that fewer mosquito control campaigns have been required. Jenkins said only two campaigns have been carried out so far this year in Edmonton – the usual first treatment after the snow melts and one additional campaign after the rain in late May. The campaigns consist of both helicopter and ground treatments.
St. Albert is outside the realm of the Edmonton campaigns. The city has its own integrated pest management plan run by the public works department that covers pest control for all public land and civic structures and facilities.
The mosquitoes in the current batch are nuisances but they do not carry a huge threat of spreading the West Nile virus. Jenkins said the primary carrier of the virus is the Culex tarsalis species that relies on hot weather and little rainfall to activate its hatching.
“Usually we don’t see those until the end of July and we need a pretty significant accumulation of heat by that point to get us into a danger zone.”
Although the population and mosquito activity might lessen as the daytime bugs drop out, the outlook for any mosquito free summers is not very bright. The eggs of the small pests can sit dormant for up to a decade and are often stored next to water, so any little bit of rain can raise the levels, flood the eggs and hatch a whole new batch.
