Winnipeg, MB - Today, the Winnipeg Public Service provided an update on the Insect Control Branch activities.
Nuisance Mosquito Control Program
The Insect Control Branch continues an aggressive larviciding program and is asking the citizens of Winnipeg to help fight the bite by eliminating any standing water on their property.
The Insect Control Branch will continue using all resources which include approximately 150 staff and four helicopters to check and treat approximately 20,000 hectares of potential larval development sites in Winnipeg and the surrounding 10 kilometre treatment area. The City’s Entomologist is monitoring conditions on a daily basis, and is ready to implement the range of control measures available as nuisance activity and environmental conditions vary.
The first adult summer nuisance mosquito generation is present and the second generation of summer nuisance mosquitoes are currently in the water bodies in and around Winnipeg.
Adulticiding Factor Analysis
Today, June 18, 2013, the city-wide New Jersey Light Trap count is 15. The Adulticiding Factor Analysis (AFA) rating is MEDIUM.
With an AFA of MEDIUM, the Insect Control Branch has begun residual treatments where there are localized emergences of adult mosquito populations on City of Winnipeg property such as parks, cemeteries and rights-of-way. Residual permethrin treatments, an environmentally friendly product made from the chrysanthemum flower, will be applied directly to localized areas of long grass, bushes and shrubs where adult mosquitoes rest during the day.
Cankerworm Control Program
The Insect Control Branch started the cankerworm control program on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 for City trees. Insect Management Areas (IMA) 32 and 47 have been completed and portions of IMA 45.
The Insect Control Branch will continue the cankerworm control program tonight, Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 9:30 p.m. Tree spraying will continue in Insect Management Area 45 in the following neighbourhoods: Burrows Central, Robertson and William Whyte. Spraying will not occur if there is significant rainfall or winds are greater than 20 kilometres per hour.
The cankerworm treatment program is occurring seven nights per week, from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. A Public Service Announcement will be issued daily providing information on which treed areas of the city will be sprayed the following day. This announcement will also be posted on the Insect Control website.
Treatment will be conducted utilizing Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk), a biological, organic product, which is sprayed from high pressure tree sprayers directly onto the foliage of the trees. Once Btk is ingested by cankerworms, they stop feeding and die approximately two to three days later.
Current monitoring of the cankerworm population indicates that the cankerworms are getting close to the stage where Btk treatment is no longer effective. Once the cankerworms are too large, Btk will not kill them and therefore the cankerworm control program will conclude.
General Information
Property owners not wanting insecticides applied on or adjacent to their principle residence may register as “Anti-Pesticide Registrants” for the adult nuisance mosquito control program and/or the cankerworm control program. Those who wish to register must provide identification that ties the registrant to the address being registered for a buffer zone. A photocopy or scanned document like a driver’s licence or utility bill will suffice as acceptable identification proving primary residence.
There are four different options to register:
- In writing to Insect Control Branch at 3 Grey Street, R2L 1V2,
- Emailing 311 at 311@winnipeg.ca or faxing 311, and
- In person at 1539 Waverley Street.
Personal notification by telephone and/or email is also available by:
- Contacting the Insect Control Branch in writing at 3 Grey Street, R2L 1V2,
- Emailing 311@winnipeg.ca or faxing 311,
- Registering online, and
- In person at 1539 Waverley Street.
Interested individuals may acquire more information by contacting 311, or by visiting the City’s Insect Control website.