Wet winter, spring summons mosquitoes

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) - It is not even summer yet and they are already here. In some places, mosquito numbers are even greater than the same time last year.

An extremely wet winter and above normal rainfall in May has created an ideal environment for mosquitos to breed early in many areas of Hampton Roads, particularly those near woodlands.

"Three-fourths of a mosquito's life is spent in water: egg, larva and pupa," said Joe Simmons, director of Chesapeake Mosquito Control.

Simmons says we have had so much rain that the trees could not soak it up and many ditches are still filled with water. Low lying areas are retaining water too. All of this has kept his department busy.

"We started larviciding back in March," Simmons said. "We treated woodland areas. Actually we had an aerial larvicide in Chesapeake with a helicopter."

Simmons says they sprayed almost 12,000 acres in Southern and Western Chesapeake.

Combatting mosquitos involves more than spraying and eradicating the pests. There is actually a good deal of intelligence work involved in the process as well.

Many people consider mosquitos to be tiny domestic terrorists--as they are carriers of diseases, like Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile virus.

"There are many other mosquito-borne diseases throughout the world that could probably be introduced into this country," Simmons said.

At their facility in Deep Creek, biologists and lab workers examine mosquitos trapped throughout Chesapeake and sort them by breed.

"We test their blood for West Nile and for 'Triple-E,'" he said. "And it gives us a good indicator of, are the diseases here, where are they and in what quantity?"

You can help control mosquitos yourself by making sure you do not leave things in the yard that can hold standing water.