Although cooler fall temperatures are coming, which local experts say usually drives down mosquito populations, one researcher says Calgary isn’t totally in the clear yet
A relatively new species is likely hitting its peak population now, according to John Soghigian, an assistant professor of parasitology at the University of Calgary.
The Culex pipiens, also referred to as the common house mosquito, arrived in the province just six years ago.
“The first sample we have of it is from 2018, in Edmonton,” Soghigian said.
Other mosquitos rely on wetlands or flooded areas for their habitats, meaning they can struggle under drought conditions. The common house mosquito, however, can use water barrels or bird baths that humans leave out.
“This year, we’re finding it all over [Calgary] again. It tends to be a mosquito that hits its peak more right around now or a little bit later, which is also different from our normal mosquitoes,” Soghigian said.
“So its season goes into September. We actually had some mosquito activity even in October.”
Researchers at the University of Calgary are working with pest management technicians in Calgary and Edmonton to understand the implications of a drought-tolerant mosquito species that’s relatively new to Alberta, the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens. John Soghigian chats with Jo Horwood.
The common house mosquito has been identified as a carrier of the West Nile virus, but Soghigian said there’s no need to panic “because there’s a lot we don’t know yet about this mosquito.”
“West Nile has been [in Alberta] for some time because we have other mosquitos that can transmit it. So it’s not that [the common house mosquito] has brought a new pathogen in, as far as we know.”
Soghigian’s lab is monitoring and studying this mosquito in conjunction with the City of Calgary. He says people can protect themselves by putting on bug spray, wearing long sleeves and covering objects like water barrels so the mosquitoes can’t use them.
“[The common house mosquito] can do well in warm weather and also when it could be a little cooler. It can survive some cold spells, so it does really well across a range of conditions,'” Soghigian said.
“It’s a mosquito whose distribution we expect to expand quite a bit under climate change, and that’s basically what we think is happening.”
Mosquito numbers ‘typical’ this summer, says city
Despite local temperatures soaring throughout the summer, which can affect mosquito populations, the City of Calgary told CBC News that “in general, mosquito numbers for May to August were typical this year.”
“Some areas of Calgary may have experienced fewer mosquitos than average depending on the location and time of year,” the city said.
“This depends on localized factors such as rainfall and the types of habitat available.”
From now into September, the city expects mosquito activity to decline.
While mosquitos are typically considered annoying insects by the general public, Ken Fry, an entomologist at Olds College, highlighted their ecological contributions.
Fry said mosquitos are part of the food web. Not only that, they pollinate flowers when they get nectar to fuel their flight muscles.
Fry noted mosquitoes feed on “coarse and fine particulate organic matter” like leaves that fall on the surfaces of ponds or ditches.
Usually those pieces of organic matter just settle on the bottom of their environments, making them an “unused resource.”
Mosquitos can filter that unavailable organic matter with their mouthparts and convert it into biomass, which can then be eaten by fish and other insects.
“That’s pretty much an unsung role of mosquitos. So I think they’re very good for our aquatic habitats.”
