Warm Winter Likely Will Mean More Mosquitoes This Spring

We have been experiencing a warm winter this year (2012).  In fact, we received a phone call from somebody asking about mosquito control on February 8, 2012.  The caller reported being bit by a mosquito in early February.  A recent news article out of Georgia predicts that a warm winter could cause mosquitoes to come out earlier than they normally do.

According to the article “As long as the temperatures are below 40 degrees most insects won’t grow and spawn, according to Paul Guillebeau, professor of entomology at the University of Georgia.

But with high temperatures expected to be in the 40s this weekend, entomologists say we’ll likely see insects emerging soon.”

Professor Guillebeau also says that each generation of a species of insects cause the population to grow tenfold.  In addition to the threat to humans, the article talks about the threat to dogs.  Another entomologist at the University of Georgia,  Nancy Hinkle, says “Mosquito bites are the only way they (pets) can get heart-worm. There is never a day of the year where you don’t have to worry about your dog getting heart-worms.”

One piece of advice from the professors is to reduce the standing water in your yard.  “A female mosquito lays eggs about every five days, so by cleaning things like bird baths once a week the eggs won’t have a chance to mature. ‘A lot of the nasty species develop in containers, just anything with standing water, trash, tires, etc., so it’s important to be dumping those kind of things out all year long,’ [Evan] Lampert (Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Gainesville State College) said.   We have found that it is impossible to drain all the standing water that mosquitoes breed in.  This is due to the fact that Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, a very prevalent species here in Frederick, lay their eggs in dry areas that they know will flood when it rains.  For that reason, our customers have found that our regular mosquito treatments will help them take back their yard and enjoy the outdoors again.