“We're not saying it's going to be a mosquito apocalypse.”
No, but Alex Carlson with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District says we are going to see more mosquitoes this year. It might be a little later than usual.
“With all the snow cover and the colder temperatures, the mosquitoes are slowing down and we have not yet found our first larvae of the spring, which we usually find around the end of March or early April,” says Carlson.
When they do arrive, it'll seem like there are more of them.
“We're just going to see more than we have in the past two years just because there's been no mosquitoes in 2021 and 2022 just because of the drought conditions,” Carlson explains.
Other factors contributing to the numbers are the snow melt and ground absorption. As we know in Minnesota, standing water and warm temperatures are a recipe for healthy mosquito hatches. And with all of our current snow, and the water inside that snow, the puddles will be numerous this spring.
Carlson says there will be an increased number of mosquito eggs trapped in all of that snow, waiting to be hatched. He says Minnesota hasn’t had a “typical summer” since 2020, so this year could be a bit of a shock in parts of the state where you venture outdoors.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District studies, manages and protects the public from diseases spread by mosquitos, black flies and ticks in the metro area.
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