Calgarians can expect mosquitos to emerge ahead of May long weekend

The City of Calgary's mosquito monitoring program has been checking on the development of one of Canada’s most irksome bugs, and officials say we can expect them back any day now.

Alex Coker, a pest management technician with the city, says judging by the development of mosquito larvae she’s collected recently, adults mosquito should be buzzing around Calgary in the next two or three days.

"We can tell in certain areas, depending on the life stage and then looking at the forecast, the daily temperature, when we expect them to make it through their lifecycle."

Cokersays that while the bug forecast can change quickly with the weather, so far it looks like a pretty average spring for mosquitos.

"There are a few species that breed in container habitats, those can be natural or artificial containers, something like a really small pool, like a small rock pool," Coker said. "Even things like bird baths or rain barrels."

The city recommends draining any unnecessary standing water in yards and keeping grass cut short to limit mosquitos.

If there is enough rain, the city will activate a pesticide program that uses a specific bacteria called BTI that targets mosquitos almost exclusively.

"It’s not activated until they eat it, and that really reduces non-target impacts to other things that might be living in the water," Coker said.

"The product needs to be specifically activated in the gut of a mosquito."