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Mosquitoes regard the recent wet weather as an invitation to return to your neighborhood. They accept!
Scarce for the past two years, Minnesota's most annoying seasonal guest, the mosquito, is back -- and hungry.
"The mosquitoes are out -- big time," said John Kreyer, control consultant for Clearwater, Minn.-based Clarke Mosquito Control, which treats outdoor spaces for public and private clients all over the state. Kreyer said that as the weather has warmed, mosquitoes have been thickest from the northern edges of the metro to the Brainerd lakes area.
"They actually swarm around in clouds over the restaurant," John Krull, a host at the Bayside Grille off Lake Minnetonka in Excelsior, said Friday night. "It's pretty buggy."
Any mosquitoes might seem like a lot this summer, after two years that seemed blissfully whine-free. Last year, for instance, the nightly average of bugs caught in traps by the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District was only about a third of levels recorded earlier in the decade.
"So far we're on track for a normal summer, but it might seem like a contrast," said Mike McLean, public information officer for the district.
Krull concurred, saying that last year the restaurant made do with a few bug zappers, which are ineffective now. "My legs are already pretty chopped up," he said.
From the northwoods to soggy Iowa, the whining pests are hatching.
They're emerging from pond edges, catch basins and other recently moistened areas. Some of the eggs releasing insects likely have laid dormant through several years of dry conditions.
Although cool weather got the bug season off to a slow start, recent rains combined with higher temperatures led to a burst of early season mosquitoes in the last few weeks.
Now, the population of hard-biting Aedes vexans, Minnesota's most common mosquito, is just beginning to take off.
The more rain-loving species of mosquito tend to be those whose main effect is to make Minnesotans slap and itch. But health officials note that the species that carry diseases, such as West Nile Virus and La Crosse encephalitis, are almost indifferent to weather conditions.
Last year, for example, Minnesota saw its second highest number of annual cases of West Nile Virus, said state Department of Health epidemiologist Dave Neitzel. The disease is transmitted by a species of mosquito that lays its eggs in standing water, such as wetlands and ponds, and there was enough of that even in the past two drought years to sustain a high number of infected mosquitoes, Neitzel said.
In Minnesota, West Nile Virus (the first reported case was in 2002) is more prevalent in rural areas. Minnesota's 101 cases last year represented less than 20 percent of the number recorded in Colorado, the nation's leader. North Dakota (369) and South Dakota (208) also had more cases. Fourteen Minnesotans have died of West Nile Virus since 2003, including two last year.
Neitzel said south central and southeastern Minnesota residents, including those in the metro area, also need to be on guard against the "tree hole" mosquito, which can transmit La Crossse encephalitis. The disease is relatively rare, with 123 cases reported from 1985 through 2007, but it has its most severe effects on small children.
While insect repellent is a standard strategy against most species of mosquitoes, residents can reduce the tree hole mosquito's toehold in a yard or neighborhood by removing anything that can hold even a teaspoon of water. Old tires are the key culprit, Neitzel said, though he said he had found tree hole mosquito larvae growing in water pooled in the dented skull of a G.I. Joe doll.
At Nicollet Ace Hardware, store manager Chris Lace said he's seen a slight rise in bug repellent sales. This spring, the store didn't order one product, a little tablet that you drop into standing water, such as a pond or a bird bath where bugs could breed. But, by popular demand, it's back on the shelves.
Periodic rains through the summer could make for a steady supply of mosquitoes, with overlapping generations continuing until frost. In the short term, they're likely to start disrupting outdoor activities soon, particularly those evening favorites such as cooking out or watching fireworks.
"Without any scientific proof to give you, I'd say this 4th of July is going to be a nuisance holiday," said Kreyer.
Staff writer Terry Collins contributed to this report.
while feeding my rabbits last evening. I am going to try the aspirin treatment
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