Metropolitan Mosquito Control District 2020 Highlights
December 31, 2020
Warm March weather might bring early mosquito season to Minnesota
March 29, 2021
Will a cold winter kill mosquitoes? Will a warmer winter mean more summer pests? MMCD answers those questions for two Minnesota news stations.
When Minnesota winters drag on with freezing temperatures and piles of snow, it's not uncommon for people to start thinking about summer. In our part of the country summer brings mosquitoes, black flies, ticks, and other pests that can affect our ability to enjoy the outdoors. Do winter temperatures make an impact on summer mosquitoes? WCCO and Fox 9 reporters and viewers both had that question recently and produced stories to help provide an answer.
Good Question: What’s The Impact Of A Mild Winter?
A lot of Minnesotans are loving the mild winter, but it could make for a buggier spring, reports Jeff Wagner.
Pest expert: Winter's deep freeze won't save us from summer mosquitos
After nearly two weeks in the freezer, Minnesotans are looking forward to a warmup in the coming days.
But, if you are looking for a bright side of the dangerously cold weather Minnesota has faced, you won't find it when it comes to summer pests.
View the full story at Fox9.com
What winter factors do impact summer mosquitoes?
The single biggest factor that contributes to summer mosquito development is water. Winters with a lot of snow can lead to a lot of standing water in the spring which would create a lot of habitat for mosquito larvae to develop. Most Minnesota mosquitoes overwinter as eggs which can survive unhatched for up to seven years. When water levels rise, those eggs hatch and the larvae develop into adult mosquitoes in shallow, standing water sources.
One species of mosquito, Coquillettidia perturbans known as the "cattail mosquito," overwinters as a larvae attached to the root of a cattail in marshes. At Metropolitan Mosquito Control District we conduct surveillance for cattail mosquitoes in the fall and treat the larvae in the winter with pellets and early spring. High water levels due to snowmelt could limit our ability to get into some of the harder to reach marshes for treatments, which could in turn lead to higher mosquito levels in the summer.
Precipitation for the winter of 2020-2021 has been slightly below average so far, but there is still a lot of winter left. We will continue to monitor conditions and do our best to prepare for whatever conditions this summer may bring.
