Early Spring Has Canada Bracing for Bugs

"The mosquito I just murdered, mess with me. I dare you," Twitter user @_FanmKreyol said.

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Mar 21, 2012; 9:31 AM ET

The buzz in Canada is that record warmth has set up much of the country for an early onslaught of insect pests, according to a report on the CBC News website.
Spring and summer in Canada are notorious for their clouds of biting insects, especially black flies and mosquitos, both of which have weather-dependent life cycles.
An unusually mild winter followed by freakish March warmth has sped the thaw of snow and ice across a wide area from Ontario and Quebec to the Prairies.
Both black flies and mosquitos breed in water.
Black flies spend the winter as eggs in flowing streams, so an early thaw can stimulate development of the new generation of winged pests, the CBC report indicated.
"The first black flies should be on the wing when the first buds on the trees start to come out," Douglas Currie, a University of Toronto biology professor, was quoted as saying.
Thus, if the warmth promotes budding of the trees weeks ahead of schedule, then the black flies could show up this early as well.
Unlike black flies, mosquitos depend upon standing water to breed, so meltwater pools offer a key environment for beginning the next generation, the CBC report said.
In parts of Canada, especially in Ontario and the Prairies, snowcover has been below normal and has thawed early. While this could result in early appearance of mosquitos, it can also lead to lower populations, owing to fewer breeding sites, Currie indicated.

Early Spring Has Canada Bracing for Bugs