Regina launches mosquito control program

As warmer weather brings out pesky insects, the City of Regina has launched its annual program to helpcontrol the mosquito population.

The city will use an organic Health Canada approved product called vectobacto treat bodies of water in and around Regina.

Vectobac is applied to water and mosquito larvae feed on it, ultimately dying before they emerge as adults. The productkills mosquito larvae within 24 hours, but is safe for birds and aquatic life.

The program will run for 125 days, with crewsmonitoring the mosquito population with 12 traps set up at key points around the city.

Russell Eirich, the city's manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture, said mosquito numbers are weather dependent.

"It really depends on the summer storms," he said."The spring melt has been a normal spring melt. So we're going to see the mosquitoes come up a little bit in the next few weeks."

Eirich said the crew has only caught one mosquito so far this year, but that it is hard to predict how the mosquito count will progress.

"It's beginning of May, it's cool nights, it's not a lot of mosquito activity, but as you get through May and you start to get into June, you start to see those numbers increase. I think it's the end of July wheretraditionally we see our peak mosquitoes," said Eirich.

Mosquitoes develop in standing water, so the city advises refreshing birdbaths and practising pesticide-free ways of mosquito control at home.

The city will be monitoring mosquito numbers and delivering a report to the health district weekly.

To learn more about the program and the results of the weeklycount, visit regina.ca/mosquito.