Mosquito numbers drop by half after spike in Regina

Mosquito numbers have dropped after a large spike in Regina earlier this month.

The average mosquito count per trap have dropped by about half, from 273 last week, to 130 this week.

Ray Morgan, Manager, Parks and Open Space Services, explained numbers dropped because of ongoing spraying by the city, while the standing water is starting to dry up again.

“The habitat for the mosquitoes is actually going down over the last week. Even though we got that big rainfall last week, a lot of that rain away into the creek system,” said Morgan.

Morgan said the numbers are still high over the ten year average and expects this level of mosquitoes to remain over the next couple of weeks.

Once mosquitoes are buzzing through the air, there’s not much the city can do but let nature take its course.

Regina is getting some help from barn swallows, which eat hundreds to thousands of mosquitoes per day. Morgan said they are starting to nest under bridges along Wascana Creek.

“If you’re seeing the barn swallows, leave them alone. They’re actually eating the mosquitoes and they’re doing us a favour. I know our mosquito populations are a little bit high right now but we’ll take all the help we can get,” said Morgan.

Morgan is asking the public to let Nature Saskatchewan know if they spot a barn swallow or loggerhead shrike, which are listed as “at-risk” species. Reporting a sighting helps Nature Saskatchewan determine where these species are nesting so they can be monitored and counted.

The city is also trying to create more of a habitat for monarch butterflies. It has planted about 100 milkweed plants on an island in A.E. Wilson Park.