The hot days and rainy nights seem to be the perfect storm for mosquitoes to develop in some parts of Edmonton.
Mike Jenkins, the city’s bug expert, told iNews880, the season started off slow, but all the rain has caused lots of hatching.
“We are seeing now the development of the typical summer species,” explained Jenkins. “These are the fast ankle biters that are stealthy and are coming in and making their numbers known, but we also actually have a pretty unusual holdover of some of our spring species.”
The spring’s first hatch didn’t happen until mid-May, two to three weeks later than usual, according to Jenkins.
He said in some areas of the north side, the numbers are down this year but other areas are seeing lots of the blood-suckers.
“Different parts of the city are doing better than others, particularly the northeast, the numbers are considerably down from last year but other areas it’s about the same,” Jenkins added.
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The city doesn’t spray for mosquitoes, except under certain circumstances, but Jenkins said they do go after their habitat to try and get them before they spread. Crews are out spraying in an attempt to reduce the number of larvae in standing water throughout the city.
“It is not perpetually raining and all of the mosquitoes, once they actually emerged, they’re travelling from their development sites,” Jenkins said.
“Often at night, they’re drawn to the city lights and things like that, so it is actually bringing mosquitoes in from farther outside our program than we would normally see.”
Jenkins said the strong winds Edmonton has been experiencing has also been blowing mosquitos from outside the city into the urban area.
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