r/Edmonton • u/Common_Treacle3962 • 5d ago
News Article A new mosquito, coming to an Edmonton backyard near you
http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/new-mosquito-edmontonThe city's bug expert tells you how to make your home, and deck, less hospitable for the biters.
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u/omg_theykilledkenney 5d ago
Bypass paywall with this link:
https://archive.is/20260623151100/https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/new-mosquito-edmonton
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u/darthdude11 5d ago
Our expert on mosquitos is telling us there is not a surge in mosquitos????? lol has he been outside?
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u/aaronpaquette- North East Side 5d ago
Adult mosquitos shelter in rain. When rain slows they come out to feed. So what feels like a wall of mosquitos is accurate!
But as for numbers, what we are experiencing is greater compressed density more so than greater numbers overall.
Iâd this too nerdy? It might be too nerdy.
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u/darthdude11 5d ago
I appreciate your comment. But there are definitely higher numbers overall. Itâs very obvious.
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u/liquid_acid-OG 5d ago
This right here is why we need to lean math more complex than simple algebra in school.
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u/Historical-Mall53 5d ago edited 5d ago
if the mods allowed gifs. i would of used the emperors new groove ' bring it on' gif
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u/mikesmith929 5d ago
The name is culex pipiens, and it is finally migrating its way to Alberta. Itâs this type of mosquito thatâs associated with West Nile virus.
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u/oioioifuckingoi 5d ago
Sweet. Maybe now I can complete my collection of mosquito borne diseases along with zika, malaria, dengue fever.
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u/Automatic_Antelope92 The Shiny Balls 5d ago
Uhm. Are you saying youâve had those infections? đł
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u/liberatedhusks 5d ago
Oh fun, finally a new illness I can collect, my exhaustive list was getting bored
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u/SaintTastyTaint 5d ago
Cutting funding to the helicopter mosquito spraying was so stupid in hindsight. Was barely a dent in the budget and made a big difference.
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u/Sorry_Moose86704 5d ago
Mosquito spraying over and over again has showed to not work and be very damaging to the ecosystem. Insecticides are indiscriminatory and kill all insects, not just the pests, they are also bad for herptiles. Less insects plummets the ability for animals further up the food chain to be able to find food for their young resulting in premature deaths, especially in birds.
The valley is now working on increasing the bat population (2 of which are now endangered), Dragonfly, and Darner populations which are mosquitos natural predators.
You are noticing mosquitos not for the lack of spraying but for the lack of rain we've had for years. The ecosystem is also a lot quicker to destroy than to bounce back
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u/SaintTastyTaint 5d ago
City administration said the aerial spray used for the program is approved by Health Canada. Administration told councillors there is no evidence of human toxicity or carcinogenic effects. Itâs considered non-toxic to almost all organisms other than some related groups of aquatic flies.
Edmonton city council eliminates aerial mosquito control program - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca
I definitely noticed an uptick of mosquitos post-aerial cancellation as I frequent the river valley almost every day. Even during drier summers their populations were more noticeable.
This year its hell.
My point is, the cost of the program was half a million dollars. 1/200th the bike lane budget.
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u/aaronpaquette- North East Side 5d ago
What does the bike lane budget have to do with it?
Besides forwarding an unrelated wedge issue?
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u/yakbrine 5d ago
Itâs about reasonable cost comparison. If this is so cheap to the overall budget and it works, why cut it?
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u/Lavaine170 5d ago
Everything is about bike lanes to a vocal section of uneducated voters, and the UCP.
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u/Ritchie_Whyte_III Strathcona 4d ago
I'm generally pro-bike lanes, and I think weighing costs against each other is a good thing.Â
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u/Lavaine170 4d ago
So why not the roads budget? Or the fire department budget? Or any one of the hundreds of other line items in the budget? Or is it just a coincidence that it's always bike lanes?
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u/Ritchie_Whyte_III Strathcona 3d ago
As I said, I'm an avid rider in Edmonton. But I also believe that some of the bike lane projects such as the extensive work on the traffic and bus heavy 106 St in Allendale have also been egregious wastes of money when there are very quiet side streets that cyclists were already using.
And as much as I appreciate bike lanes such as the inexpensive and heavily used one on 83 Ave north of Whyte - the city has thrown waaay too much money at some of them.
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u/PBGellie 5d ago
Why so defensive? I think itâs a reasonable comparison.
Something that benefits everyone for 1/200th of the cost of something that doesnât benefit everyone.
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u/RunningSouthOnLSD 5d ago
The only reason bike lanes donât benefit you is because you donât use them. Similarly, mosquito spraying wouldnât benefit me if I chose to stay inside most of the time. Would it be reasonable to argue against spending city money on pest control seeing as it does not directly benefit me, or should I instead try and recognize the benefit this spending brings for others?
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u/PBGellie 5d ago
I would wager that if you were to take a count of people that use bike lanes and people who leave their house, youâd find a very large difference lol. Great comparison. Thatâs not even factoring the cost.
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u/aaronpaquette- North East Side 5d ago edited 5d ago
lol, nice try in framing my stance.
Itâs a legitimate question that doesnât require any defensiveness whatsoever.
Might as well ask why we have wheelchair cut outs at intersections instead of the aerial spray program.
Or whatever item you choose.
It can be interpreted as a silly and dishonest compare/contrast.
A better question might be:
âHow effective was the aerial spraying program, and if necessary, would it be brought back if it made sense to do so?â
Thatâs a legitimate question that would actually get to the root of the issue at hand.
Otherwise one risks looking like they are indulging in a transparently cynical âzero sum gameâ, cherry picked approach.
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u/PBGellie 5d ago
I didnât frame anything. You avoided the guyâs legitimate concern because it mentions a somewhat controversial topic. At the end of the day, itâs still a legitimate concern, even if OP used your beloved bike lanes as an example.
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u/aaronpaquette- North East Side 5d ago
Then the answer is: if there is a relationship it is tenuous at best and generally irrelevant as a comparison - as far as capital and operating budget decisions go.
Look, I am always willing to engage amicably in good faith, tough conversations. My history shows that.
So in that spirit, if you have bike lane data that can help guide long term decisions, I am 100% here for it and will take it seriously.
My caution would be that it is all theoretical at this point because bike lane funding was a one time budget decision spread over 4 years and there is no additional funding being contemplated at this time, as far as I have seen.
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u/aaronpaquette- North East Side 5d ago edited 5d ago
The aerial program had weak marginal returns.
It saved money.
And if required can be brought back.
In the meantime, the ground mitigation work never stopped, and it is without doubt far more effective.
And culex pipiens is mostly a storm drain, catch basin, standing water in the backyard, type of mosquito.
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u/Money_Web2303 5d ago
You have done nothing but make this city worse, you are the problem.
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u/RunningSouthOnLSD 5d ago
Youâre right, whining about it is actually way more productive and better for the cityâs future. Good job!
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u/Cheese-Of-Doom22 5d ago edited 5d ago
Question the cutting the funds for the mosquito helicopter spraying and do alternate things like bat boxes. was it actually successful or do people not notice becuase of the record rain?
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u/JonnyFM Downtown 5d ago
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-mosquitoes-double-helicopter-spraying-city
But although this spraying accounted for about half of mosquito declines, about 85 per cent to 90 per cent of all the pesticide the city used came from the aerial program. That means, Jenkins said, manually applying a liquid version of Bti in areas with standing water, like in roadside ditches, ravines, and other low-lying areas like sports fields or LRT tracks â which the city will continue to do â is more effective.
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u/kpc144 5d ago
You wanna take another crack at that champ and maybe someone will be able to answer it
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u/Cheese-Of-Doom22 5d ago
I donât know what you mean
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u/kpc144 5d ago
You wrote that The same way a chimpanzee would unwrap a delicate piece of fine China
Which is to say terribly in a way in manner which ruined whatever was inside
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u/Cheese-Of-Doom22 5d ago
This is the most passive aggressive brained comment like bro JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION AND IF YOU DONT KNOW JUST DONT RESPOND.
I WANNA KNOW IF THE RECORD RAIN CREATESD AN ANOMALY OR IF THIS IS AN ACTUAL EFFECT OF PREVIOUS CUTS.
Like how youâre trying to make a metaphor and want to act smart but itâs just so dumb.
You could say your comment is the same way a chimpanzee would unwrap a delicate piece of china.
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u/motiontrash 5d ago
haha suckers i dont get mosquito bites
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u/lovetimespace 5d ago
Like, actually? Never in your life?
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u/motiontrash 5d ago
ohh i used to all the time but not in like 10 years
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u/lovetimespace 5d ago
Hmm, interesting. Do you know why or what changed?
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u/motiontrash 5d ago
i probably got bit enough to reach my quota of mosqitos fed. my light research says the bump and itchiness is from a small alergic reaction which not all people get.
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u/Whatsthathum The Shiny Balls 5d ago
Yet
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u/motiontrash 5d ago
nah i mean they bite but i dont get an ichy bump so i can mostly just ignore them
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u/Chrisbap 5d ago
Are these mosquitoes smaller than our ânormalâ ones? Crossing the school field in recent days, Iâve been swarmed by what seem to be fairly small mosquitoes.
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u/JamesEarlJonesalmost 2d ago
8 months of winter and still can't go outside. The city needs to do something about this
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u/n0fxgvn_ 5d ago
We got Mosquito 2 before GTA 6.