Rain means mosquito resurgence possible in Saskatoon

Watch above: Recent rain in Saskatchewan means a resurgence of mosquitoes is possible, but as Wendy Winiewski reports, the effect will be different compared to earlier this summer.

SASKATOON – Most of southern and central Saskatchewan received a much-needed downpour between July 27 and 28. While it brought the moisture many areas so desperately needed, it also provided a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“Nuisance mosquitoes are really driven by rain because the water bodies will flood and they flood bands of eggs that have been laid around the water,” explained Jeff Boone, the City of Saskatoon’s pest control management supervisor.

“The more rains we get, the more flooding we get and then typically, more eggs will hatch.”

Residents have already noticed the change. On Monday morning at the spray park in Hampton Village, April Allt was keeping a close eye on her son.

“None?” asks Allt, looking for mosquito bites.

“Maybe they don’t like your blood,” she wondered aloud. “No, it’s ’cause I use lots of sunscreen and mosquito spray.”

Allt and her son went all summer without repellant – until recently.

“It’s annoying I guess. You don’t want to get bitten,” she said. “I have already on the back of my legs.”

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The city has traps sets up in eight different neighbourhoods. On average over the past four years, the traps were catching 23 mosquitoes daily during the final weeks in July. In the same time period for 2015, the traps total average is three mosquitoes per day.

This is low compared to normal, but high when compared to the beginning of July when the average was less than two.

“We did see a bit of an uptick over the last couple of days primarily related to rains we had earlier in July,” explained Boone.

When rain is followed by hot conditions, larvae can mature into adult mosquitoes within four days. With mild weather, the maturation period can take up to two weeks.

Either way, another spike from the most recent downpour can be expected said Boone, but the resurgence won’t have the impact it would have had if the rain had fallen earlier in the season.

“It’s fairly late in the year so typically this time of year we see a shift in the type of mosquitoes and a lot of the mosquitoes that are emerging, they actually go straight into ‘over-wintering’ mode as opposed to looking for a blood meal,” explained Boone.

It’s welcome news for residents who’ve been enjoying a relatively mosquito-free summer.

Nuisance mosquitoes generally thrive in the early months of summer.

Culex tarsalis, the West Nile virus carrier, thrives in August and in hot weather.

Use repellant, avoid time outside at dawn and dusk and wear long sleeve pants and shirts to avoid being bitten.