Heat takes sting out of mosquitos but wasps take over

The dry conditions are having an effect on the mosquito population but wasps are proliferating, experts have said.

‘We have noticed a marked decline in the number of mosquitos,’ entomologist Arjan Stroo of health and safety body NVWA, told the AD. The lack of water, in which mosquitos breed, has caused the larvae to dry out, Stroo said.

Last year, the wet spring combined with high temperatures caused a bumper year for mosquitos, peaking at the end of June. There will be no increase in the number of mosquitos this year, Stroo said, unless the weather changes.

The circumstances may not favour mosquitos but wasps, which like dry and hot conditions, have been thriving.

‘Many people panic when they see wasps. Their first thought is to kill them,’ biologist Arnold van Vliet said. That is not a good idea, he said, because wasps eat other insects we find bothersome, such as flies.

‘Wasps don’t set out to sting people,’ he told the paper.