Bug wars

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When it comes to doing his job, Taz Stuart is relentless. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

LET’S get one thing straight right from the start: When it comes to doing his job, Taz Stuart is relentless. "I don’t take summer holidays. I haven’t had a summer holiday in 18 years." Why? Because his job is fighting bloodsuckers, and the summer is when they come out to prey. But Winnipeg’s entomologist set aside the bug spray long enough to give On7 a briefing from the battlefield.

1. THE SUMMER — UNTIL LATELY — HAS BEEN RELATIVELY BUGFREE IN WINNIPEG. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

Two words: Biological warfare. "We’re moving to a biological larvicide program. Right now, we’re at 65 per cent chemical larvicide and 35 per cent biological. Next year, we’ll be 50:50 and in 2012, we will be 100 per cent biological."

The biological weapon of choice is BTI — a bacterial spore that is the perfect size to attach to the gut of the mosquito larvae while leaving friendly larvae alone. "The wrigglers get a bad stomach ache and then they die."

2. WHAT ABOUT DRAGONFLIES. ARE THEY YOUR ATTACK TROOPS?

Dragonflies love to attack and devour mosquitoes, but Stuart can’t take complete credit for their battlefield effectiveness.

"Other insects benefit when there is lots of water around."

So, although we may have had a massive invasion of mosquitoes, there was also a massive uprising of dragonflies this year.

Stuart and his crews did play a role in that uprising, however, scooping up dragonfly nymphs from bodies of water outside the Winnipeg mosquito abatement area and seeding them in permanent bodies of water within it.

3. CAN THIS WAR ON TERROR EVER BE WON?

Don’t be discouraged, but Stuart gives a sobering illustration of what we’re up against.

One female laying the average of 200 eggs after each blood feed (she can do up to six blood feeds in her lifespan) could be responsible for 48 million descendants over the course of the summer.

And, Stuart uses a rough formula for calculating the number of mosquitoes per acre. If a human guinea pig were to walk out into a field with just one two- by three-inch patch of exposed skin, and they received five bites in five minutes on that patch, that would translate to roughly 50 million mosquitoes in that acre of ground.

4. WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF WE GAVE UP THE FIGHT?

"I don’t want to touch that one with a thousand-foot pole.

Just look at the accounts of the early explorers and settlers. That will answer the question, so that I don’t have to."

5. IN AN IDEAL WORLD, WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE TO WAGE THIS WAR?

"That’s an impossible question. We have four helicopters and 150 staff at peak times. That will increase as we go more biological.

We would see real benefits if we could increase the mosquito-abatement district around the city to 30-40 kilometres (from the current 10) but that would be unfeasible."

As things stand now, crews check and larvicide the standing water areas around the city once a week.

6. HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE WEAPONS WE ARE USING VS. THEIR COST?

"Ninety per cent of our budget (of $5.1 million) is spent on larviciding. That should tell you how effective we think that is."

Stuart says the other main weapon, malathion, is also very effective, but it is subject to variables such as temperature, rainfall and wind.

"If we follow the label and the conditions are right, the spray droplet is the perfect size for mosquitoes. If they are hit with a droplet, they will die. And we aren’t killing other insects. Dragonflies are roosting at the times we spray, plus, it would take a massive dose to kill a dragonfly."

7. HOW DID YOU FEEL WATCHING THE LPGA GOLFERS SWATTING THEIR WAY DOWN THE FAIRWAYS AT THE ST. CHARLES GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB LAST WEEKEND (AND WE’RE NOT TALKING GOLF BALLS)?

"It is a private course. We did fog in the public areas Saturday and Sunday, but we couldn’t help on the course.

Our sprayer is too big, it couldn’t have accessed the course.

They didn’t contact us for help. Perhaps we could have done something to help, but hindsight is 20-20."

BONUS QUESTION: WHAT THE $#@% IS GOING ON NOW?

"As of (Tuesday) Winnipeg has had 545 mm of rain," Stuart says. And it hasn’t been exactly dry since then. The city is at more than 150 per cent of normal rainfall. Stuart isn’t making excuses. That’s just the nature of life on the battlefield.

You win some, you lose some.

Meanwhile, Uncle Taz wants YOU! "Help yourself. Dump, fill, drain, cover." Make sure there is no water on your property accessible to mosquitoes. And make sure your neighbours do, too. Many mosquitoes migrate only 10-20 metres in their lifetimes. Others, with assist from the wind, travel up to 30 kilometres. The enemy never rests, and neither can we.

City entomologist Taz Stuart’s sage advice: "Dump, fill, drain, cover."