Weekly Update – May 13th – First Surveillance of 2024 Shows Black Fly Activity, Some Mosquitoes
May 21, 2024
Weekly Update – May 28th – Mosquitoes, Black Flies Continue to Surge Amidst Heavy Rain
June 4, 2024
The first two weeks of mosquito surveillance of 2024 show us above average, similar to how things looked in 2023.
The second week of mosquito surveillance shows that District-wide things are above average, thanks to some hot spots.
Every Monday night starting in mid-May through September, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District sets out a variety of mosquito and black fly traps throughout the district and employs a network of sweep net collections done by employees and volunteers. Any insects collected are brought back to our lab on Tuesday to be identified throughout the week with maps published to show current mosquito and black fly activity.
Things are beginning to get busy in our second week of mosquito surveillance at the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. Thanks to several high mosquito areas in Anoka County, Carver County, northern Washington, and northern Dakota County we saw District-wide mosquito numbers go above the 10-year average by more than double this week. That may seem surprising, but it's actually pretty in-line with where we were around this time last year. In 2023 we saw a spring surge followed by a summer of drought and low mosquito numbers the rest of the year. We are yet to find out if this year's mosquito numbers will stay high due to regular rainfall or decline like it has in the past.
According to MMCD assistant entomologist Dr. Scott Larson, "As you can see, we are well above the 10-year average for human-biting mosquitoes collected in the CO2 trap network – more than double the usual number of mosquitoes for this week of the year. Last week we also saw the adult Culex mosquitoes begin to be collected widespread across the District. Nothing too worrisome for now, but the season is just starting."
Black flies are also quite abundant in the typical hot spots along rivers and streams. Black fly treatments continue on large rivers and small streams where larvae has been developing this season.
Here are the mosquito trap counts from last Monday, May 20th:
Tick activity remains high. Take precautions to protect yourself and your pets.
Lyme Disease Awareness Month may be coming to an end, but the risk of tick-borne disease remains elevated throughout the spring in Minnesota. According to MMCD tick specialist Janet Jarnefeld, nymph ticks are just becoming more active and we will likely see a lot of them in June.
Next week will bring the return of the tick risk meter to the MMCD homepage, so look out for that!
Summer event season is here! Look for MMCD at parades, festivals, and other events near you!
We are excited to kick-off the summer with several events this upcoming weekend! Come out and visit with MMCD staff members and ask questions, learn about mosquito biology, see live mosquito larvae up close, and much more! Below are some of the events we will be attending in the upcoming weekend:
- Saturday, June 1st - Lake Phalen WaterFest - Booth
- Saturday, June 1st - Sunfish Lake Park Family Nature Day - Booth
- Saturday, June 1st - Brooklyn Park Tater Daze - Parade Float
- Sunday, June 2nd - Grand Old Day - Booth
