Albertans can expect healthy wasp, ant and beetle populations this year - Action News
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Calgary

Albertans can expect healthy wasp, ant and beetle populations this year

Thanks to an unusually warm winter and spring, Albertans are shooing away more bugs, earlier than usual.

Insects emerging 3 to 4 weeks earlier than usual, says Olds College entomologist

A wasp with yellow and black stripes is seen in a close up as it crawls along a nest.
Insects respond to how hot or cold it is, and not the calendar date, says Olds College entomologist Ken Fry. (John P. Ashmore/Shutterstock)

It's not just Albertans who have been enjoying the mild winter and spring.

The bugs love it too.

The warmer temperatures have luredflying insects such as wasps, bumblebees, ants and beetles out of hiding.

  • Have you been shooing away more bugsthan usual this spring? Tell us about your insect encountersin the comments section.

"Easily three to four weeks earlier than normal," Ken Fry, an entomologist at Olds College, told the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.

He said insects respond directly to "how hot or how cold it was" and not the calendar date.

Mild winters always translate into better survival rates for flying insects, like bumblebees, says Olds College entomologist Ken Fry. (Matthias A. Frst)

Winter didn't kill them

Normally, winter does a good job keeping the province's bug population at bay.

"That's the beauty of living in north temperate Alberta... Itreducesalotof the insects."

But Frysaid it wasn't cold enough, for long enough, andAlbertans should be prepared to do some serious swatting this summer.

In particular, heis expecting a higher yellow jacket wasp population because so manyqueens survived the winter.

That's bad news for those who are allergic to their stingers, but good news for gardeners.

"Those things are predators they eat a lot of the caterpillars and grubs that feed on our plants."


With files from the Calgary Eyeopener