EDMONTON – If you’ve had time to enjoy the great outdoors this summer, you may have noticed there are fewer mosquitoes than this time last year.
Hot and dry conditions have resulted in well below average mosquito numbers in the Edmonton area.
“Although this year’s mosquito count did not reach a record low, it’s definitely amongst the lowest we’ve had in the last couple decades,” explained Mike Jenkins, a Biological Sciences Technician for the City of Edmonton.
While these insects they have not been thriving, others have. The recent weather has been ideal for wasps, caterpillars, ants and spiders.
However, Jenkins says Edmontonians are likely in the clear for an increase in the mosquito population this year.
“In some cases those eggs can sit there…just waiting for the drought conditions to end and water to come back. So, it might reduce the numbers for now, but if we got significant rainfall next year, we could get very high numbers very quickly,” Jenkins added.
Mosquito eggs can remain dormant for up to a decade if there is no water to activate their hatching process.
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