A mosquito consumes one-millionth of a gallon of blood through its long tube during a human-supplied fuel-up—and also injects an anti-coagulant saliva which can transmit disease. After a wet spring there seems to be more of the aggressive insects than normal. The West Nile virus had been found in a mosquito pool in the Provost area years ago (see PN Sept. 6, 2006) and the Town of Provost made plans that summer to control the mosquito population by applying larvicide in town and fringe area because of the concern of the virus re-appearing. Killing mosquito larvae can reduce or eliminate the need for applying pesticides to adult mosquitoes. Neither the Town of Provost nor the surrounding M.D. is planning to tackle the pests with a management program this summer though some larger municipalities like Edmonton will apply a granular larvicide. Residents can apply insect repellent or might also encourage dragonflies to literally chew up mosquito populations. ©Provost News Photo.

Photos in July 3 edition of The Provost News.
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