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Whether it’s grasshoppers, mosquitoes or ticks, bugs are living their best life this summer.
Taz Stuart is an entomologist — a person who studies insects — as well as a mosquito expert and former director of technical operations at Poulin’s Pest Control based in Winnipeg.
He said the key to a mosquito-free summer is being proactive on removing standing bodies of water from your yard.
“Mosquitoes need water. When there’s lots of water — standing water — it is an issue. So dump it, drain it, fill it, cover it (or) treat it; that’s important,” explained Stuart.
He also encourages people to use personal protection measures.
“You want to be wearing a proper repellent with Picaridin, Icaridin or DEET,” he explained.
These chemicals can be found in most store-bought repellents like OFF! for example.
“Wear light-coloured clothing and you’ll want to avoid those times when (mosquitoes) are most active, which is the dusk and dawn time periods,” he said.
When asked about mosquito season, he said prime time is spring and summer; it just depends how much rainfall an area gets.
“Cities do have their own mosquito control programs where they’re looking at controlling those bugs that may come out of your backyard,” he said.
The City of Regina has its own program, where crews take samples from standing water within the city and up to 10 kilometres outside city limits to check for mosquito larvae. If larvae are found, the city treats the water.
The city also monitors adult populations by hanging light traps in different areas across the city. Staff members visit the traps daily and look for different mosquito species. There are six different monitoring areas, each with two traps.
Stuart explains that getting rid of standing water quickly is crucial, as mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in about three to seven days.
“And if that’s in your backyard, boom, they’re going to be the ones biting you,” he said.
Everyone react differently to bites from the bloodsuckers. Stuart explained it’s the saliva that causes the reaction.
Stuart said this is peak time for West Nile virus transmission and to be extra-cautious.
Wildfires causing unnatural bug movement
The wildfires in Saskatchewan are close to beating the 10-year average.
Stuart said there’s no way to know for sure what bugs are moving from the fires, but it’s a possibility they are moving closer to city centres.
“Just like everyone else, you don’t want to get burned (s0) they’re going to be moving. So it is very, very reasonable that the wildfires can be causing some insect movement unnaturally,” he said.
He mentioned that ticks are migrating due to climate change, and migrating birds are the greatest distributors of those ticks.
“People don’t think there’s ticks anymore right now, but this is the nymphal stage and it’s literally the size of a poppy seed. They’re so small,” said Stuart.
He said ticks like to stay in treelines and grasslines, where they wait in a position called “questing.” Since ticks can’t fly or jump, they’ll hold onto leaves or grass with their back legs, holding their front ones out to grab onto a host.
It’s important to perform a routine tick check.
“If you’ve got the ‘geek look,’ ” he said with a laugh, “to check your high socks, look below your pants, wear light-coloured clothing, check your hairline, on your back and behind your legs.”
He also encourages people to properly remove ticks. This means not using a match or pulling it out with your fingers, as this could leave parts of its body still within the host. He said the best method is a pair of tweezers at a 90-degree angle and to pull out slowly.
Mosquitoes are attracted to the lights, sounds and CO2 emissions of an urban environment, so regardless of the fires, they aren’t leaving the city centres anytime soon.
Unique spider web
Funnel spider web in Douglas Park. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME).
Stuart said if you spot a cluster of spider webs like the one in this picture, don’t destroy it: It has a purpose.
“It’s a funnel web spider most likely,” said Stuart.
It’s layers upon layers of webbing to catch other insects.
“That’s why we like spiders — they’re good killers of other insects,” he said.
