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City continues aggressive assault on 'skeeters

WINNIPEG — An aggressive larviciding campaign and cooler temperatures should offset weather conditions that could have created Winnipeg’s worst mosquito season since 2005, city officials said today.

City entomologist Taz Stuart said record spring rainfall has saturated the ground and left temporary pools of standing water — a scenario similar to that of spring 2005, when Winnipeg endured its worst mosquito season.

However, Stuart said the larviciding campaign has kept the number of nuisance mosquitoes to a minimum, adding it’s hoped that there will not be a repeat of 2005.

Stuart said he’s been told the mosquito situation is better in Winnipeg than in neighbouring communities, a scenario which he attributes to Winnipeg’s aggressive larviciding efforts.

The majority of monitored standing water sites have moderate to high levels of mosquito larvae, he said, adding that city crews have been attacking them 16-hours a day, seven days a week.

 

To date, skeeter trap counts have been low, with less than five bugs per trap found on average.

The city reminds property owners to eliminate standing water on their properties by dumping water from containers, draining eavestroughs and covering rainwater collection containers to help reduce mosquito breeding areas.

On the cankerworm front, Stuart said the worms have reached larval maturity and will no longer be a threat to trees. The Insect Control Branch has concluded its cankerworm control program for the season.

Stuart encouraged Winnipeggers to take down tree bands now, but replace them this fall to minimize next year’s population of cankerworms.

For information on tree banding please contact 311, or visit the city’s Insect Control website at www.winnipeg.ca/bugline.

 

History

Updated on Friday, July 3, 2009 at 3:02 PM CDT:
Rewritten.

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