Bug season likely to be aggravating despite dry spring Removing stagnant water may help

PITTSFIELD – Mosquitoes and black flies hatch in water.

Does the lack of spring rain and dry conditions across the state mean there will be fewer of the pests this year?

Not likely, said Jim Dill, entomologist with the University of Maine.

“If [dry conditions] cut the population in half, say from 2 million to 1 million, would you really notice?” Dill asked.

It’s still early in the season to make any predictions, Dill added.

Black flies hatch in running water. Mosquitoes hatch in still, often stagnant, water, he explained. While humans may be enjoying warmer than expected temperatures for May, water temperatures have not caught up yet. Ice out on many lakes and streams was just weeks ago and water temperatures remain low.

Traditionally, the flying pests that plague the work and leisure activities of Mainers in spring and summer don’t begin to hatch out until the third or fourth week in May.

The larvae from the flying irritants were laid last year. In the case of black flies, for the dry spring to have an effect on this year’s hatch, year-round streams would have to be dry, Dill said.

There may be fewer puddles and woodland pools for mosquitoes to breed, but “never fear, there seems to be enough of them around,” he said. And even if the spring’s dry conditions had a small effect on the insect population, “they have a way of rebounding,” he said.

Persistence can pay off in short order. Mosquitoes can increase 10-fold in a two- to three-week period, depending on the species, he explained.

“You would almost need a crystal ball to predict this sort of thing,” he said. “These guys – whoops – girls are resilient.”

The females of the flying crowd are responsible for the breeding and the biting, he said. “They need that blood supply.”

If the population of one species should falter, never fear, it isn’t the end of the life form. There are, after all, about 40 different species of black flies in Maine, and about 20 different types of mosquitoes.

“We’re not expecting a major catastrophe,” he said of the approaching bug season. “We can expect it to be pretty normal.”

And the black fly watch is on.

At www.mainenature.org, black fly sightings are posted weekly. At present, Frank Wihbey, editor of the Maine Nature News, reports the black fly population across the state is “light to none.” Depending on volunteers, Wihbey expects to post updates in the coming weeks to increase the sightings to “moderate” and eventually to the top rating of “royal pain.” The sightings are helpfully plotted on a Maine map for comparison with your friends and relatives across the state.

For mosquito information, visit www.mosquito.org of the American Mosquito Control Association or www.pestworld.org of the National Pest Management Association. Both sites offer scientific data about the breeding cycles of insects and suggested repellants – DEET remains the most effective – but there are also helpful hints aimed at cutting down the population in your area. The most effective means of control is to eliminate breeding areas by removing collection points for stagnant water – old tires, paint cans or buckets and yes, even ornamental pools.

And we thought the dry spring had taken care of all that.