Dry weather lowering mosquito count throughout Minnesota
Dry weather in the past two weeks has mosquito totals flattening.
(FOX 9) - Although mosquito totals remain higher than average throughout the Twin Cities, dry weather in the past two weeks has totals flattening.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) monitors mosquito totals every Monday, from mid-May through September, employing a variety of mosquito and black fly traps throughout the district. Insects collected are then brought back to its lab to be identified throughout the week, with maps published to show current activity.
According to its data, numerous areas in the red zone (equaling more than 300 mosquitoes per trap) saw a slight decline compared to the week before.
"There’s still plenty of mosquitoes, in general, but their numbers lessened last week. We are now below the 10-year average by [about] 150 human-biting mosquitoes per CO2 trap on average," MMCD Assistant Entomologist Dr. Scott Larson said in a statement.
The drop can be attributed to the lack of rain throughout the past few weeks, according to the release, which is lowering mosquito totals for the third consecutive year.
However, cattail mosquitoes are continuing to emerge, which are oftentimes at their highest around the 4th of July, before seeing a slow decline.
The risk of mosquito-borne disease tends to increase as they head into mid- and late-summer, as mosquitoes that vector diseases like West Nile virus and La Crosse encephalitis become more active, according to the MMCD.
There are currently no new positive samples of West Nile virus in adult mosquitoes tested this week.