Warm autumn leads to mosquito plague

13 October 2005

AMSTERDAM — Mosquitoes are out in force this autumn due to the warm weather and lack of wasps.

Biologist Marijke van Dammen of the Royal Dutch Society for Study of Wildlife (KNNV) said on Thursday that many more mosquitoes larvae have hatched this year due to the warm weather.

The lack of wasps has also benefited the mosquito population. Wasps feed on mosquito larvae but a cold period earlier this year severely reduced the number of wasps.

Confirming what many of us already knew, Piet Verdonschot of the Alterra research institute in Wageningen, said there is a significant increase in the mosquito population.

But he cast doubt on the suggestion the lack of wasps was to blame. “As a result of the wet summer there is a relatively large number of pools of water in which the larvae can thrive,” he said.

Mosquitoes are often found in or near houses as they are looking for a warm and safe environment to get through the winter.

Dutch weather bureau KNMI predicted the first real cold night will reduce the mosquito plague to a minor nuisance. “But on a warm and sunny winter’s day they can re-appear just like that,” Van Dammen warned.

Subject: Dutch + Belgian news