Unusually high amount of cattail mosquitoes expected this summer

Minnesota will see the highest number of cattail mosquitoes in five years this July.

The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District predicts there will be four times as many cattails this summer compared to last year. This generation was born last summer during a period of unusually heavy rain. Over the past several years, their numbers have been extremely low due to drought conditions.  

That’s an increase people will notice, MMCD spokesperson Alex Carlson said.

“Right around the time when everybody wants to be outside for the Fourth of July, that’s when the mosquitos are going to be this year,” he said. “I love to be the bearer of good news.”

Minnesota has over 50 mosquito species. Most of them are “summer floodwater” mosquitoes. They hatch when it rains during the summer and mature quickly. Multiple generations can emerge in one year.

“That’s why it’s hard to predict most of the species, because it’s really dependent on what the summer rains do,” Carlson said. “Those ones are already in the water and will be coming out pretty much regardless of what the weather does right around the beginning of July.”

Cattails, on the other hand, hatch at the same time every year. Carlson said the “aggressive, people-biting” can sometimes make up 50 percent of Minnesota’s mosquitoes. In past years, that fraction was much smaller.

There will probably be surges of other species of mosquito throughout the year, but the cattails will be mostly gone by August. 

• Como Zoo visitors get a surprise: witnessing the birth of a baby sloth
• April storm leads to second day of school delays, e-learning days across Minnesota
• Unemployment extension for laid-off mine workers gets tangled up at Capitol
• Fired or frustrated federal workers may have eager employers waiting for them in Minnesota