Now that cooler temperatures have arrived, you might have noticed something that appears like good news. Hooray! The mosquitoes are gone!
Well, not quite. While mosquitoes do enter a dormant phase during cooler months, we know that they are not “gone”. Unfortunately, they will be back again before long.
For now, though, we can all celebrate the absence of itchy bites. And of course, fewer mosquitoes means lower risk of the diseases they can carry. But unless you want to face a raging case of the swarming biters in spring, it’s a good idea to “mosquito proof” your home and yard over the winter.
While mosquitos themselves do begin to die off or go dormant in colder months, depending on species, they lay plenty of eggs just before doing so. The eggs, deposited into water-holding receptacles, enter a diapause that suspends their development until the weather warms up.
In spring, temperatures begin to rise and rainfall begins to fill those receptacles, triggering development and hatching of the mosquito eggs. That’s why you will often begin to see your first hordes of mosquitos just after the first warm spring rain.
Luckily, we know how to prevent mosquitos from overtaking your home and yard first thing in the spring.
- Inspect your porches, patios, and yard for items that hold water, and rise them out. Store them where water cannot re-collect in them.
- Then, check your gutters. Clean them out so that water doesn’t stand in them.
- Drill holes in the bottoms of trash cans, tire swings, and other items that might collect rainfall in the spring.
Because our weather doesn’t get too cold here in Southern California, we might simply see fewer mosquitoes rather than none at all. Your usual mosquito deterrents, such as insecticides or certain plant oils, should continue to work when you spend time outdoors. But because the mosquito population will surely boom in spring, we definitely recommend that you take the other above actions as well.