Why are Minneapolis Mosquitoes so Bad This Year?

Did you know we had five inches of rain in May? The average rainfall in May for Minneapolis is under 4 inches. Add to the extra precipitation a hot June (13 days above average already), and you have yourself the perfect recipe for mosquito population growth.

Mosquitoes Need Blood + Water

Mosquitoes need two vital sources for reproduction: water and blood. The female mosquito needs the blood from biting humans and other animals to produce the eggs and then she needs standing water to nourish them from eggs to larva to pupa to adulthood. Without standing water, eggs would not survive to adulthood, effectively limiting mosquito population growth. Eliminating standing water is the single most effective thing you can do yourself to control mosquitoes.

What About the Lakes?

You might be thinking the effort wasted at your lakefront home, but you’d be wrong. Mosquitoes can find small stagnant puddles near the shore to thrive in, but the moving lake water and plentiful wildlife make lakes less hospitable to mosquito population growth than you’d think. Fish, frogs, and birds love to feed on mosquito eggs, larva, pupa, and even adult mosquitoes when they have the chance.

What CAN grow mosquitoes at your lakefront home is the tarp over your boat that has a puddle in it. Or the sand buckets left on the beach during the last summer storm, now half full of water. These items must be eliminated or tipped over/drained after every rain. Make sure your decorative landscaping elements are not holding water and if they are meant to hold water like fountains or bird baths, clean them weekly and make sure the fountain is always running.

For more help in remembering what mosquito sources need checking in your yard after the rain, follow the 5 Ts of mosquito control. In addition to eliminating sources, we can eliminate 85-90% of the mosquitoes directly. Our product will last for up to 3 weeks to keep your property mosquito-free no matter how hot it gets this summer.