Just like spring, mosquitoes are late to the party in Edmonton.
In fact, Edmonton’s bug expert says mosquitoes are just now starting to hatch, a full month later than usual.
“We’ve been basically monitoring, sitting, waiting for those larvae to appear,” City of Edmonton pest coordinator Michael Jenkins said. “It’s only been in the last week or so we’ve actually seen the hatching occur.”
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Since hatching is only beginning now, swatting season will be delayed too.
“We have a couple of weeks before we really start seeing mosquitoes emerging from this spring hatch so we’ve got a couple weeks of grace,” Jenkins said.
READ MORE: Stealthy, small, ankle-biting mosquitoes out in full force: Edmonton bug expert
According to Jenkins, there are a few factors keeping the bugs at bay: Last year’s mosquito count was low, which means fewer eggs were laid, a cold April kept the eggs dormant, those eggs need water levels to reach a certain height to activate and so far those levels in the city are low.
“A lot of the habitats that we’re looking at right now, we’re actually still not seeing any hatching occurring,” Jenkins said. “Some of the areas are very low. So that is overall a good sign.”
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But don’t count your mosquitoes before they hatch. There is one spring staple that can unleash a flurry of egg activation before the biting begins.
“One really long rainstorm fills up a lot of that habitat and activates all those dormant eggs,” Jenkins said. “It can change pretty quickly.”
That would sting, wouldn’t it?