Crews targeting standing water to prevent mosquitoes

The bug battle has begun. We’re out targeting the spring mosquitoes that have begun to hatch. Larviciding crews are focusing on standing water in ditches and low-lying areas.

“Our environmentally-friendly larviciding program is the most effective way to stop mosquito larvae from emerging into the pesky insects we’re familiar with,” said David Wade, the Superintendent of the Insect Control Branch.

We are aggressively targeting them by going out on foot, in vehicles, and by helicopters.

We monitor and treat more than 28,000 hectares of standing water in and just outside of Winnipeg. It’s based on weather conditions.

“Following a major rainfall, we have a seven to 10-day window in cooler weather and four to seven days in hotter weather to treat standing water before mosquito larvae become adults,” he said. “It’s important we work as efficiently as possible.”

How you can stop mosquitoes

On top of our work, we need your help. We ask that you check your property and dump any standing water you can. Cover any rain barrels and fill low lying areas to prevent water from pooling.

One place you might not think of checking is your eavestroughs. If they aren’t draining properly, stuck water can lead to mosquitoes.

If you do have unavoidable standing water around your property, consider treating it with biological larvicide.

“We can see around 40 different species of mosquitoes in Winnipeg and each female can lay several hundred eggs at a time so it really is important to eliminate as much standing water as possible,” said Wade.

Watching the weather

Ideal conditions for our larvarciding program are cooler temperatures, low wind conditions, and no significant rainfall.

A drier summer also means fewer mosquitoes.

How we track mosquitoes

We keep track of the mosquito population using more than 35 New Jersey Light Traps.

We post the trap counts at least three days a week so you can check to see how many mosquitoes are found in your neighbourhood. Historical data is also available on our Open Data site.

When we fog

We only adulticide, or fog, for mosquitoes when the requirements of our Adult Mosquito Control Policy, the Adulticiding Factor Analysis Guidelines, and the Provincial Pesticide Use Permit are met. We use DeltaGard 20EW in our adult mosquito control program.

If those requirements are met, we will post the fogging schedule 24 hours before starting

You can also sign up for our Insect Control email newsletter to receive notifications.

We encourage you to report any insect concerns you might have to us.