The City of Regina is recording an average of only nine mosquitoes per trap over the past week. Saskatoon is also reporting even fewer with just under three mosquitoes per trap.
Regina’s Open Space Services manager said the hot and dry summer contributed to the lack of the pesky bug this summer compared to others.
“Our record count … in 1993, we had a little over 1,100 mosquitoes per trap,” said Russell Eirich. “Nine compared to 1,100 is an extraordinarily low number.”
In terms of a summertime summary, the biggest challenge came at the end of May and beginning of June. Over a 10-day period, Regina received about 75 millimeters worth of rain, which ramped up the pressure on the City for mosquito control.
“We really had to work to bring the numbers down to that full number,” said Eirich. “I’m very pleased with how the season went and it’s all due to our crews doing the work out there.”
The City of Regina uses what’s called the New Jersey-style light trap, which operates at nighttime. Eirich said the trap is a simple setup that operates underneath a 25-watt light bulb and blows the mosquitoes into the jar. The mosquitoes are brought into a lab where they are counted and identified where the data will be reported to the health district.
The City of Regina Open Space Services runs a mosquito program from May 1 to Sept. 15 each year. During that time period, crews are out there treating the standing water for the mosquito larvae to get them before they emerge.
“We use a biological product called VectoBac and then the mosquitoes essentially feed on that product, and that’s the product that controls or kills them all,” said Eirich.
“We don’t do a fogging program like some other communities may do, but this is an environmentally-friendly way of doing things and trying to fight mosquitoes on that front.”
The City of Regina publish their mosquito counts online throughout the season.