Regina to see more mosquitoes, less tent caterpillars

With the recent warm, rainy weather, Regina could soon see an increase in mosquitoes, according to the city’s manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture.

“Over the past days, our treatments have gone up significantly, so we know they’re on their way,” said Russell Eirich.

“We should start to see them by the weekend, or maybe into the early next week period. So we’ve got a few more mosquito-free days, but the mosquitoes are on the way.”

He said Regina saw upwards of 50 millimetres, or about two inches, of rain in the past five days, which has left lots of standing water around the city.

For those wanting to get a head start on mosquito prevention, Eirich encourages them to dump any standing water around their property.

“Get into your backyard, start to drain those things that are holding that standing water because each bucket of water will produce thousands of mosquitoes.”

Eirich added the city’s running a full mosquito team this week with some members of the tent caterpillar spray team being reassigned to focus on mosquitoes instead.

Tent caterpillars on the decline in Regina

When it comes to tent caterpillars, Eirich said Regina’s in “pretty good shape” with only five residents calling in for crews to come out and spray for the bugs.

He noted last year, the city sprayed 14,000 trees, and this year, crews are expecting to spray around 2,000.

Eirich said the tent caterpillar and cankerworm spraying efforts are almost done with 1,500 trees already being treated and only a couple areas left to do.

He suggested those looking to spray for tent caterpillars and cankerworms at home can use BTK insecticide, which is what the city uses.