Here in eastern Wisconsin we had a relatively dry summer until two weeks ago, when we suddenly had well over two inches dumped on our area over 2 hours, plus another 6 or so over the next week.
This has resulted in the most horrific eruption of mosquitos I’ve ever experienced here, and I’ve experienced some unpleasant times in the past. Today, despite direct sunshine and 80 degree temperatures at noon, AND standing in the middle of a paved road in the sun, far from well mowed margins, we were so swarmed the dog begged for mercy. Then as we moved quickly back towards the house, we unfortunately took a shortcut over our lawn, and suddenly were enveloped by hundreds, if not a thousand or more of the buggers!
When I inhaled through my mouth, I got a mouthful of 'em. When I switched to nose breathing, I got a noseful! All this despite having liberally applied deet all over! It was so bad we gave up, and spent the day indoors despite absolutely beautiful weather. From the vantage point of our windows, we noted a few other hardy souls braving the outdoors, only to start waving their hands furiously around their heads, their bodies, then running back indoors as fast as they could go.
In addition, mid September is usually a glorious time for dragonflies around here. Normally I expect to see a virtual armada of them filling the skies, feasting on the damn mosquitos, as we all cheer for them. No sign of them whatsoever! Where O where have our saviors gone?
Unfortunately I believe tiger mosquitoes can now be found in your state. They don’t care about shade, they’ll come after you in direct full sun at any time of day. The spawn of Satan, they are.
Up here in northern WI too it’s been bad the past couple weeks from the rain. I’m tired of staying indoors. I haven’t noticed as many dragonflies as usual either this year - in fact have only seen one. The bats have been active at night though, which helps.
As noted by Payne (2003), dragonfly populations in ponds are known to be very dynamic: a single pond may produce large numbers of dragonflies, but emergence is extremely variable among ponds and years.
So, bad luck most probably. Possibly amplified by the dry year or any mechanical disturbance to nearby incubation sites( like construction next to a pond or something ).
At any rate that sounds hellish. Hope the little bastards die down soon. In the mean time might I suggest some protection ;).
It’s even more horrendous today. I and the Mrs. and Mercodog even went down to Lake Michigan’s water’s edge, a zone that’s all sand and no vegetation, figuring we could stroll along the beach. But even there we pulled so many skeeters with us as we walked down to the water that they drove us mad, and it took 2 minutes of constant swatting combined with speed walking to get clear. The return walk thru the beach vegetation was again horrific. We’re voluntarily house bound, despite mosquito netting hats, because those suckers go right through the clothes.
All your D-flies are on vacay in the northeastern Sunshine State. I could mail you a box of 50 tonight–from my backyard alone–but it’s probably illegal.
Hmm. We’ve had similar weather up here, but zero mosquitoes. Spent most of the weekend outside on our deck, which overlooks the creek behind our house. Zero bugs. Maybe they’ve all flown south for the winter.
It’s not because of dragonflies. It’s white nose syndrome. Wisconsin-just like everywhere east of the Rockies- has been smacked hard by white nose. It’s a fungal infection that infects bats, causing them to wake up early from hibernation and starve to death. To call it a disaster is an understatement. In one cave near me, prior to 2008 they had 2500 roosting bats every year. In the winter of 2017, they had 5, not 500, 5 bats out of 2500 that managed to survive the onslaught. Little Brown Bat numbers on the East Coast have stabilized, but at an incredibly low number. Optimistic estimates are saying it’ll be at least 100 years before complete recovery if ever. It’s also likely that some species are going to go extinct due to the threat and they are already extirpated in some areas. Wisconsin is a relatively recent victim, so expect things to get worse over the next couple of years.