NMCAW: Meet Hailey, a Mosquito Field Technician from our Plymouth Facility!
June 20, 2025
Weekly Update – June 24th – Cattail Mosquitoes Emerging in Some Areas
July 2, 2025
Still below average, but approaching where we would expect for this time of year.
Mosquito numbers ticked up again this week, but we remain below average across the District other than a few 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.
There was another gradual increase in mosquito numbers during the week of June 17th, though District-wide numbers remain below the 10-year average. A few hot spots are seeing high mosquito activity, especially in Carver County. The two highest collecting traps of last week were in Camden Township and the northwest corner of San Francisco Township, both of which collected over 1,500 human-biting mosquitoes. These areas have pretty low population density, which is likely part of the reason that resident calls to report mosquito annoyance are well below average. In 2025 we have only received 197 calls from residents to report high mosquito activity or a mosquito breeding site. The average number of calls over the same time period in the preceding 5 years was 1,068. In 2024 we had already received 1,567 calls by this time of year. As a reminder, residents can call MMCD to report high mosquito activity or use our Submit a Tip form to message staff directly.
Another good step for the mosquito season - other than the pool that was collected in the first trap week of the season (likely a holdover from last year), there have been no more positive samples for West Nile virus found in mosquito pools. MMCD Vector Ecologist, Dr. Jordan Mandli reports, "a total of 35 mosquito pools containing Culex species were tested for [West Nile virus] across the seven-county region, with no positive results. Additionally, one pool of Culiseta melanura was tested for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), which also returned negative."
However, it's not all good news. As we've been expecting, cattail mosquito numbers are beginning to tick up across the District. According to MMCD Entomologist, Dr. Scott Larson, "the average number of Cq. perturbans [cattail mosquitoes] in our traps rose from 6 the week of June 10 to 26/trap last week and we expect that number to continue to rise."
Below are maps showing mosquitoes and black flies collected in CO2 traps on June 16-17th:
The 4th of July Mosquito Forecast and Helicopter Activity Expected
We always say that predicting mosquitoes is like predicting the weather - we have a pretty good idea what the next week is going to be like, but beyond that it's tough to say mainly because the most common summer mosquitoes in Minnesota are so rain dependent. We are tracking a decent-sized rain expected Wednesday and Thursday of this week and the location and amount of rain will determine how many mosquito eggs hatch. Our staff will be out this week and likely into the weekend finding where mosquito larvae are most prevalent and following up with treatments by helicopter, drone, and ground. Be sure to check our Planned Treatments page for the latest information.
As we've shared throughout this year, the cattail mosquito projection model suggests that we will see quite a decent emergence of that species, which are expected to peak in early July. Don't let your guard down because there haven't been mosquitoes out yet and be sure to stock up on your preferred bug spray! The EPA has a cool tool to help you determine which insect repellent might be best for you.
Here is a story from CBS Minnesota/WCCO on the Fourth of July Forecast:
Looking back on National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
Last week we observed National Mosquito Control Awareness Week on our website and social media and we have some cool highlights to share. Check them out to learn more about the people who make up MMCD and the work that we do:
- Meet Liana Lin, an Entomology Lab Technician from our St. Paul lab!
- 10 Mosquito Breeding Sources in Your Yard and How to Remove Them
- Meet Sean Ford, a Catch Basin Technician from our St. Paul Facility!
- The Plymouth Facility takes over the MMCD Instagram
- Meet Hailey, a Mosquito Field Technician from our Plymouth Facility!
Be sure to keep up with MMCD content all season long on our social media pages: Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, YouTube, and TikTok.
