VIDEO: Mosquitoes on the thoughts in Fort Langley

Fort Langley residents gathered to speak about mosquito management final week, as residents and enterprise house owners had been involved a couple of repeat of final yr’s clouds of blood suckers.

Final yr, a particularly cool, wet spring was adopted by a scorching, dry summer time mixed with excessive river ranges.

That proved to be an ideal storm for mosquitoes, with a number of years of mosquito eggs hatching all of sudden, and making them inescapable for weeks in and round Fort Langley.

Fort Langley Neighborhood Affiliation invited Dirk Lewis of Morrow Bioscience, who talked concerning the management of mosquitoes.

“We’re all aware of the adults, from the management perspective, we’re involved with the larvae,” mentioned Lewis. Morrow contracts with Metro Vancouver for regional mosquito management, which is finished by attacking them with non-toxic bacterial pesticides earlier than they’ll pupate and hatch into the flying mosquitoes that chew people.

The forest areas across the Fort are excellent for the mosquitoes, damp however not too scorching or too cool for them.

As much as 80 million mosquitoes can hatch per hectare, mentioned Lewis.

The native species of mosquitoes are extremely aggressive and can chew at any time of day, and will not be deterred by warmth, he added. Though bats and birds eat them, they overwhelm the flexibility of predators to maintain up by sheer numbers.

Morrow maps websites, screens larva concentrations, and treats the websites the place acceptable.

“The best depth in Langley is on this are,” Lewis mentioned.

He famous that there’s no technique to successfully wipe out grownup mosquitoes, as soon as they’ve already hatched.

FLCA president Andy Schildhorn mentioned it was a superb technical assembly.

He mentioned he hopes that extra may be finished sooner or later to regulate mosquitoes.

“We should be extra proactive,” Schildhorn mentioned.

The priority is that each 4 to 5 years now, the mosquito downside across the Fort will get worse, Schildhorn mentioned. That’s dangerous for residents, retailers, and guests, in addition to particular occasions.

“It’s an financial hindrance,” he mentioned.

Final yr, radio information studies concerning the mosquito downside within the Fort had been broadcast only a week earlier than the Jazz Competition, and it actually damage attendance, Schildhorn mentioned.

“Fort Langley is getting generally known as the mosquito capital of the Fraser Valley,” he mentioned.

In terms of the flying bloodsuckers, this yr isn’t anticipated to be almost as dangerous as final yr.

However Schildhorn worries that local weather change could also be making situations worse over time.

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