This week may have been the pinnacle of the largest mosquito populations the city has seen in at least five years, if not decades. City of Edmonton data suggests this week saw an average of 20,000 mosquitoes per trap laid out in ponds and bodies of water. The week before saw just over 13,000. The week before that, nearly 11,000. The last time Edmonton had a bad mosquito year was 2023, when the average total mosquitoes numbered around 16,700 in August. Biological science technician Mike Jenkins says the numbers this season are likely the highest since the 1990s. “Back then, we would have had huge clouds of mosquitoes coming out from there,” he told CTV News Edmonton. This year’s heavy population is largely thanks to heavy precipitation. “Especially when it’s falling in torrential downpours that dump 40-100 millimetres of rain in one sitting, none of it soaks into the ground. It all just runs off into temporary habitats … Basically, the textbook definition of perfect mosquito habitat.” Will mosquitoes ever stop bugging me? If the rain stops coming down so heavily, yes, Jenkins says. Female species are still laying multitudes of eggs, but those eggs need to be woken up in order to hatch. “Those eggs will sit there waiting until the next rainstorm. In some cases, they hatch the next rainfall. In other cases, they’ll sit there waiting dormant until the right conditions come to activate them,” Jenkins said. “It could be next spring. It could be next summer. In some cases, it can be 10 years later.” ‘Skeeter’ syndrome Higher rates of bug bites could have some Edmontonians concerned about itchy, swollen or painful reactions. Dr. Shazam Mithani speaks to the concept of “skeeter syndrome” during mosquito season on social media. “One day, it’s a simple mosquito bite. By the next morning, the skin around it is swollen, red and hot to the touch. Though many may confuse this for an infection, it’s actually something called skeeter syndrome,” her video says in part. Huge welts and redness are often a local reaction to the proteins in mosquito saliva, she explained. The syndrome is more common in young children but can occur in adults with histories of allergies. Most cases can be settled with any antihistamine, she says. Are mosquitoes good for anything? In short, yes. “They are an important food source for a lot of other organisms. There are a lot of birds, insects, things that feed on mosquitoes,” Jenkins said. “They are also pollinators. Females go for blood to get the protein to lay more eggs, but for their actual food energy, both male and female mosquitoes go to flowers and sip nectar.” As mosquitoes feed on nectar, they play a “really effective” role as a native pollinator, he said. They also have impacts on more niche aspects of the ecosystem – for example, the movement of caribou in the Arctic. “Their migratory path is largely shaped so they can keep their face to the wind to keep mosquitoes down. If we didn’t have mosquitoes, it would alter the migratory paths of caribou, which would have impacts on lots of other organisms. “All kinds of interlocked chains. You never know what’s going to happen if you mess with one of them.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa
