CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — You’re not imagining things: There are more mosquitoes.
The spring was relatively dry, but heavy rains at the end of June created conditions favorable to certain kinds of mosquitoes, says George Balis, regional manager of Clarke Mosquito Control.
“That has led to an increase in floodwater mosquitos, in particular right now that we’re seeing, which are about 2-4 times above what we would normally see at this time,” he said.
Adam Schwarzentraub, owner of Mosquito Joe Tinley-Orland, said people are really feeling how bad the nuisance mosquitoes are this year.
“Usually of course, at dusk they’re the worst but, we’re getting calls that people are out in the middle of the day that are getting bit up,” he said.
Both experts advise you to empty any containers with standing water from around your property.
Balis also suggests people wear one of the four kinds of repellant suggested by the CDC: “The Centers for Disease Control recommends really four of them — DEET-based repellants, which are of a traditional gold standard; picaridin-based repellants; oil lemon-eucalyptus, which is kind of a natural repellant, and then ir3535.”
Balis said in the dryer, earlier part of the summer, we had Culex mosquitoes, the kind that breed when it’s not as wet and which carry West Nile Virus. He expects their numbers to grow as the summer goes on.