There is a bright side to all the cold, snowy weather drifting through Manitoba: Mosquitoes are taking a hit.
The City of Winnipeg's insect control branch said on Friday that the cool temperatures have resulted in slower larval development. That has allowed helicopter and ground crews to get a jump on them by applying larvicide to a significant number of standing water sites.
Trap counts have been zero since the monitoring of adult nuisance mosquitoes started at the beginning of May. Over the next seven to 10 days, the insect control branch anticipates only a small emergence of spring nuisance mosquitoes.
Applying larvicide targets mosquito larvae in the aquatic stage before they emerge as adults and is the most effective and environmentally friendly approach to controlling mosquitoes, city officials said.
The news isn't as great on the cankerworm front.
"Monitoring of egg masses and adult cankerworm populations shows the potential for a significant cankerworm emergence in certain areas within Winnipeg over the next few weeks," said a city news release.
Officials say the cankerworm control program can't start until next week because the leaves need to be fully open on the trees, so inspectors can see that larvae or worms are actively feeding on the foliage. Currently there is not enough foliage to start treating the trees, the city said.
The cankerworm program is focused on street, boulevard and city park trees. When the cankerworm control program starts next week, the city will issue a public service announcement to let residents know which neighbourhoods will be addressed.
Property owners need to do their part
Property owners are also encouraged to reduce the chance of their yards becoming a mosquito-breeding zone by eliminating standing water. The city is urging owners to dump water out of containers in yards, clean and drain eavestroughs, cover rainwater collection containers and fill in low-lying areas in yards.
Fogging to kill off adult mosquitoes will happen when the city and provincial guidelines for the use of pesticides are met. Since 2005, the city has approached the mosquito fight with the aim of using environmentally friendly methods as much as possible, using biological products in environmentally sensitive areas such as residential districts, parks and playgrounds.
Fogging is employed only when necessary to supplement the other measures.
Public notices will be issued two days prior to any fogging. People who don't want to have their property fogged can register their residence as a buffer zone.
source:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/05/15/mb-mosquitoes-cankerworms.html come on Gore crankup the heat a bit will you! ...... let the blood suckers have some fun
