Calgary mosquito season is here, but may not be a bad one: expert

Mosquitos are here already, but just because they are early does not mean it’s going to be a bad season in Calgary.

Not as bad as last year, anyway.

Alexandra Coker, an integrated pest management technician with the City of Calgary, says the season can be predicted by how much rain is had on any given summer.

“Some species of mosquito, like the floodwater species we have here, will actually lay their eggs in the soil. And then those eggs can stay dormant for five-plus years,” she told CityNews.

“So when we get heavy rainfalls like we saw last year, and those areas fill up with water, then all of those eggs that have been waiting for a few years will hatch, and then you’ll see really high numbers of mosquitoes.”

Meanwhile, it’s still hard to predict how bad the mosquito season is going to be, but the pest can be fought off in any yard right now.

She says a few things can be done to prevent spawning, including tidying anything with standing water, like bird baths, rain barrels, or tires.

“If you have any of those sorts of sources of standing water on your property, we definitely recommend emptying them fairly frequently,” she said.

“Some of the species that breed in those, their life cycles can be really quick, like a week or two. So, emptying those regularly can definitely help.”

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In addition, buying a house on the west side of Calgary may not be a bad idea, maybe? She says the east side of town sees more mosquitos.

“Especially the communities that border Stoney Trail just because there is a lot of floodwater habitat in those areas,” Coker explained.

“That’s where we tend to see higher numbers of mosquitoes but also where we tend to get more calls from citizens.”

She says the city does spray those areas to try and mitigate the risk, but anything to watch out for standing water in your yard will also help make a difference.

Meanwhile, while mosquitos are known to be a nuisance for anyone out on a soccer field after a rainy day, she says mosquitos play an important role in our ecosystem “like all other living things.”

“Some mosquitoes are pollinators,” Coker explained. “Only female mosquitoes blood feed, and so a lot of male mosquitoes actually pollinate … it’s not well known what their role in pollination is, but they definitely do it.”

In 2022, on one record night, Coker’s counting team caught 40,000 of the pests, which was around 48 per cent of all the ones they caught that year.

Coker says Mosquito traps will be set up next week.

-With files from Lisa Grant