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Mosquitos gone wild: It's extra bad out there

Michael Kaufman
/
Michigan State University

It’s not your imagination: The mosquitos are really bad in Michigan right now, and they’re not going away anytime soon.

It’s been a hot summer, with lots of rain, some dry spells in between, then lots more rain.

Perfect, if you’re a mosquito.

Mike Kaufman is a Michigan State University entomologist. He says not only do we have our usual crop of mosquitos, we’ve got psorophora ciliata, a big mosquito with a big bite. It’s native to Michigan, but fairly rare.

“These things are not coming from your gutters and they’re not coming from your birdbaths, all the obvious things that may be producing mosquitos here and there. They’re coming from large flood plain areas that have been inundated with the fairly recent rains.

Kaufman says the mosquito population is very large and very aggessive.

"There are ways you can avoid mosquitos, obviously. Staying inside during the evening and early-morning hours when they tend to be most active, but these are … I mean, they’ll get you in the middle of our lawn in full sunlight, if you let them.”

Kauffman  says over-the-counter sprays don’t always work when mosquitos are so plentiful.

Kauffman says the mosquito population will probably be around until October, unless we get a freeze before them.