REGINA — A mix of recent warm and wet weather caused a spike in Regina’s mosquito population.
Ashley Thompson, City of Regina manager of parks technical services, said the insect’s population last week was well above average numbers.
“We caught just 200 mosquitoes in our traps last week, which put us over the historical average for the week.”
The spike in temperature caused mosquito larvae to rapidly grow. This led to higher counts of the insect through 12 traps scattered across six parts of Regina.
“The per-trap count was 18 mosquitoes per trap [last week]. Typically for last week, we would see about half of that, so around 10,” noted Thompson.
City pest control staff set the traps in their backyards.
“They run their traps in their yards every night, bring their trap in in the mornings, and we have an entomologist who identifies and counts each trap every day,” noted Thompson.
Despite the sudden increase, Thompson does not expect the population to continue growing at a rapid pace in the near future.
“We aren't seeing a ton of sitting water right now. That hot weather over the last week really dried things out, as well as the wind. So we probably won't see a huge spike again like we did unless we get a significant amount of rain.”
According to Environment Canada, the city will see temperatures ranging from 20 °C to 30 °C, with mostly sunny conditions over the next four to five days.
Rain could come into play on Saturday, with a high chance of showers at night.
To help mitigate the mosquito population, the city aims to keep it below 75 per cent of the historical average.
“To do this, the city monitors data such as precipitation levels [and] pesticide output and uses an app that guides field staff on where and when to treat bodies of water,” they said in a statement.
As for protecting your body against mosquitoes, Thompson recommended these tips.
“[Wear] long sleeves, long pants, loose-fitting clothing. [Even] with tighter clothing, you can get bitten through the clothing. And of course, there are a lot of different repellents out there that you can use.”
Thompson also said people shouldn’t worry about potentially attracting mosquitoes based on smell or other factors.
“[Really] they're attracted to any food source they can get.”
Since the city started tracking its mosquito population roughly 30 years ago, the population has trended downward.
“The drought conditions help with that as well. We haven't been seeing as much precipitation in the last several years. So that helps keep the mosquitoes away. So we will see some spikes throughout our summers, but overall they're not nearly as bad as they used to be,” said Thompson
