Mosquito trap counts low, but expect more skeeters soon

Getting bitten by mosquitoes already? Winnipeg city officials say the pesky blood-suckingbugs are indeedout, but trap counts are low so far, anyway.

"Very small numbers" of spring adult nuisance mosquitoes have appeared thanks to successful spring larviciding efforts, according to the city's Insect Control Branch.

But warm temperatures and rain over the last 10 days will give rise to summer nuisance mosquitoes, as the eggs have begun hatching in the water, said Ken Nawolsky, the city's superintendent of insect control.

The first generation of summer adult nuisance mosquitoes could start appearing in the next three to five days, depending on the weather, according to officials.

"So for the next while we can see just a slight increase in the trap counts," he said Friday. "You're going to have now some of the summer species starting to emerge."

City crews are continuing to apply larvicide across the city, and Nawolsky said people shouldn't expect any fogging in the near future.

The city's adulticiding factor analysis (AFA) rating, the systemthe Insect Control Branch uses to determine how best to fight the bugs,was low on Friday.

Nawolsky reminded residents to dump out any standing water on their properties.

"We're at slightly above moisture conditions compared to normal years," he said.

"We, fortunately, missed [a] large significant rainstorm that happened last night, so this will allow our crews to continue to treat the nuisance mosquitoes in the water that are currently out therenow."

Officials noted that people may see some midges lately. They're flies that look like mosquitoes but they do not bite.

As for other nuisance insects, Nawolsky said he's expecting to see very few cankerworms this summer.