Twin Cities metro to see resurgence of mosquitoes this fall
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A summer pest is sticking around this September. Crews with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District are still treating for mosquitoes as the Twin Cities metro area is set to see a fall resurgence of the biting insect.
“It’s very unusual,” said Alex Carlson of the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. "We kind of got hit by a bad combination of a lot of rain last week, followed by some warmer than usual temperatures, which means those eggs that were going to hatch next year aren’t going to wait, they’re going to emerge this fall.”
Mosquito control had its helicopters out Monday, treating in all seven metro counties.
Teams use a dry pellet containing natural soil bacterium that targets mosquito larvae. The pellets are dropped in wetlands and large areas of standing water to prevent larvae from becoming biting mosquitoes.
Carlson said with rain in the forecast again Tuesday and Wednesday, and more warm temperatures to follow, their teams will likely be out again later this week.
“We live in Minnesota,” he said. “I don’t control the weather.”
To complicate the matter, Carlson said they are working with a “skeleton crew,” as most of their workers are seasonal.