As summer approaches in Calgary, so do the season’s most notorious pests: Mosquitoes.

The City of Calgary is prepping to tackle the burdensome bugs, but their prickly presence does have a big ecological benefit, according to city staff.

The City begins its tracking programs in early spring to get a handle on pest populations coming into the spring. But, they’re careful not to be too heavy-handed. The insects play an important role in the ecosystem as not only are they food for other living organisms, but they also are pollinators as they collect nectar as food, according to the City.

Alex Coker, who is an Integrated Pest Management Technician, Parks and Open Spaces said even in drought conditions, the city can still expect to see a large mosquito population.

“A lot of the species we have here are floodwater species and some of their eggs can lay dormant in the soil for five or more years. Even if you had five really dry years and then one really wet year, then all those eggs are going to hatch, so it really just depends on how much rainfall, we get,” she said. 

“But in areas that are sort of more isolated and further away from I guess, human activities, some of the mosquitoes we have here can fly up to about 10 kilometres just to find someone to feed on.”

Trapping the bugs

The city plays a crucial role in monitoring the different numbers and species of mosquitoes around the city. They use specific traps to help capture and study the insects. 

Coker said that at this time of year, they are expected to trap a few hundred mosquitoes in a trap per night. The conditions of where the trap is placed influence the number they catch in a given time.

“So, we try to find areas that have good kind of coverage in terms of like wind, just because obviously if it is windy, it’s hard to catch mosquitoes. We try to keep them on sort of city sites or areas that are a little bit more secure,” Coker said.

Once they get the count, according to the city’s website, they determine a course of action if the activity reaches a certain level.

“When populations are high enough, we do an aerial application of a product that specifically controls mosquito larvae,” the website reads.

“This typically happens in mid to late spring which targets the first populations of larvae.”

The population grows as most mosquitoes typically breed in bodies of water like ponds or lakes, and temporary water bodies that are convenient, like containers or puddles, or even your backyard bird baths.   

Coker said only the female mosquitoes that suck blood and only a certain amount of the species of mosquitoes are attracted to humans.

The best way to reduce your chances of obtaining bites is by wearing long sleeves and pants with lots of bug spray, keeping your lawn short or by reducing your activity in dawn or dusk as that is when mosquitoes are reported to be most active.