Why are there so many mosquitos in Metro Vancouver right now?
Have you been itching from an unusual amount of mosquito bites lately? You’re not imagining it. We’re going through an intense mosquito period in Metro Vancouver, according to one expert.
Daily Hive reached out to Ben Matthews, an assistant professor in UBC’s zoology department from The Mosquito Lab, who confirmed our suspicions about mosquitos being particularly bad right now.
“Yes, it seems like the past few weeks have been particularly bad for mosquitoes,” said Matthews.
Why are there more mosquitos now?
According to Matthews, you could blame the weather for all the mosquitos. “I think the unusual precipitation pattern this year has played a role,” he said.
“For the early part of the summer, it was very dry, which is not conducive for mosquito eggs to hatch and their aquatic larvae and pupae to develop.”
Rainfall data in Vancouver shows that it’s been a dry summer
“We had a few isolated rain events that could have led to a synchronized hatching of all of the eggs that were essentially lying in wait, leading to a massive increase in mosquito numbers over a short period of time,” said Matthews.
Now, the adult mosquitos are searching for a blood meal which they will then turn into the next generation of mosquitos. A fully blood-fed female mosquito can lay over 100 eggs.
“If we get another bout of rain followed by warm conditions that the adult mosquitoes like, we could certainly see another round of mosquitoes in this late summer period,” said Matthews.
On Tuesday, August 29, Metro Vancouver woke up to a bunch of rain for the first time in recent memory. If the rain is followed by warm conditions, then you better hold onto your bug spray.
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