As mosquito counts rise in Saskatoon, entomologist offers tips to keep them in check

Mosquito counts are up in Saskatoon, but an entomologist says they’re still a lot lower than last summer.

The week ending on Friday saw the city collect an average of 24.97 biting mosquitos in its traps, which is significantly higher than the 5.25 recorded during the same week in 2024. It’s also higher than the five-year average of 15.03 biting mosquitos per trap.

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But Georgiana Antochi-Crihan, an entomologist for the City of Saskatoon, said that while it may seem like the air is full of the biting pests, it’s really a matter of perspective.

“We’ve had historically low counts all season, and this is the first time we’re seeing them being noticeably higher, but they’re still nowhere close to what we experienced during the July long weekend last summer,” Antochi-Crihan said during an interview on the 650 CKOM Morning Show with Mark Loshack on Wednesday.

Listen to the full interview with Antochi-Crihan:

According to the city’s data, that week in July of 2024 saw an average of 68.81 biting mosquitos captured in its traps.

Antochi-Crihan said the warm temperatures and widespread rainfall in August likely contributed to the recent spike in mosquito populations.

“The higher the temperature, the faster mosquitos are going to develop, and the more rainfall we have, the more mosquito habitat there is for mosquitos to breed and reproduce,” the entomologist explained.

She said the best thing residents can do to help keep mosquitos in check is to eliminate standing water, even if it’s only a small amount.

“The best thing you can do for mosquito control is to eliminate mosquito habitat,” Antochi-Crihan explained.

“What you want to make sure you’re doing is that you’re dumping out or changing water every week from your dog bowls, drip trays under your planters, or even the divots that tarp makes on wood piles. Mosquitos really only need a handful of water to reproduce, so you might have more habitat in your yard than you think.”

While a fountain or a pond with a pump are less likely to become breeding grounds for the winged pests, Antochi-Crihan said owners should still check them regularly.

“Mosquitoes tend to go for standing water, but if you’re seeing mosquito larvae in there, you might want to consider treating the water, and if you’ve got something like a rain barrel, you might want to cover it with a screen, but you could also treat that, too,” Antochi-Crihan said.

Asked if avoiding certain foods can make a person less attractive to mosquitos, Antochi-Crihan said she wasn’t sure if that’s the case, as the bugs are typically attracted to the carbon dioxide humans exhale.

“They mostly navigate through their antennae; they have a lot of chemical receptors on there, and that’s how they find us, through the CO2 gas we breathe,” she said.

“So when you think those mosquitos are really honing in on you, they’re honing in on all of the wonderful, delicious chemicals you exude. I don’t know if bananas are one of them, but they might be finding you in other ways.”