Does a Mild Winter Mean There Will Be More Mosquitoes?
If there's one good thing about cold weather, it's that there are less mosquitoes around to bother and bite you. But what happens when the season is unusually mild? Is there a relationship between mild winters and an increase in mosquito activity or populations? The experts at MosquitoNix® can explain the impact a mild winter may have on mosquito season when the temperatures rise.
Mild Winters
There's a common belief that a mild winter means an influx of mosquitoes come summer. While weather impacts mosquito activity, it's a little more complicated than that.
Because mosquitoes are cold-blooded and can't regulate their body heat, their internal temperature is essentially the same as the air around them. They thrive in warm, moist environments to allow eggs and larvae to develop into adult mosquitoes. Cold winters with sustained freezing temperatures can kill mosquito eggs and slow the reproductive cycle.
When the outside temperature dips below 50°F but stays above freezing, mosquitoes may go dormant, allowing them to come to life more quickly when the temperatures climb. These pesky insects have reproductive strategies that ensure the survival of their eggs so that their young can hatch when warm weather returns. The problem with mild winters isn't that it creates more mosquitoes in the summer, it's that the warmer weather causes the winged insects to come out of dormancy sooner than usual.
Wet Springs
If winter and early spring precipitation does not fall as snow or stay frozen, the environment may have more water pooling thanks to above-freezing rain. There's nothing mosquitoes love more than lots of pooling water to use as breeding grounds for eggs and larvae to mature into adults. Instead of an interruption in the life cycle during winter, the mild-winter and wet spring combination may actually speed up the process, leading to a longer and more active mosquito season.
Hot Summers
What about their behavior in the summertime? What temperature is too hot for mosquitoes? Even though these bugs thrive in warm weather, it can get too hot for mosquitoes to feed. This happens when extreme temperatures suck moisture from the air and dry out the environment, as low humidity suppresses mosquito-feeding activity and can sometimes even kill them. In humid climates such as many of Mosquito Nix's service locations, however, a hot summer is the perfect scenario for mosquitoes to survive.
Ways To Limit the Impact of a Mild Winter
Since you don't have any control over the weather, it's important to be proactive about pest control with effective mosquito prevention. If you had a mild winter, don't allow the inevitable to happen by creating an ideal environment for mosquitoes. To ensure that your backyard doesn't become a major mosquito breeding ground as a result of the warmer temps, make sure you manage your outdoor spaces. Clean out your rain gutters, flip over patio furniture after storms, drain unused water features, and remove any unnecessary decorations in which water can pool. Also, take care of overgrowth and yard debris around your property; these piles of leaves and yard clippings attract many insects, not just mosquitoes.
It's also a good idea to hire pest control experts to install preventative solutions such as a misting system to stop mosquitoes from taking over. If the winter happened to be mild, have the MosquitoNix professionals come out as soon as possible to assess your property and determine the best course of action to keep mosquitoes from ruining your time outdoors. They'll even know how soon to get the process started so that you enjoy the warm weather as soon as spring and summer start.
Keeping Mosquitoes at Bay
It doesn't matter if the winter is mild or one of the worst ones in recorded history, mosquitoes have adapted to survive and thrive. As soon as the weather conditions are favorable, they will show up in force and be ready to do what they do best: annoy you and your family whenever you hope to enjoy yourself outdoors. Since you can't completely get rid of mosquitoes, treating your property is the next best thing. Call MosquitoNix® to learn more about our custom pest control solutions to ensure that mosquitoes don't take over and ruin your summer season.
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