Mosquito season starting out light in Marion County

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Mosquito season is officially upon us in Marion County.

Mosquito Control has been spraying for larvae in stagnant water around the county for the past month. Tuesday they began spraying for mosquitoes in neighborhoods Tuesday night. They’ll continue through the fall.

Because of the mild winter, many experts predicted we'd see a giant boom in mosquitoes this summer. So far, the season is starting out on the light side.

 “Things have not been as bad as we originally thought, mainly because the weather has been so dry. Everybody was thinking with the mild winter, we would have a lot of mosquitoes - that really didn't affect the mosquito population at all,” said Matt Sinsko, Marion County Mosquito Control Team Leader. Sinsko says significant rainfall this summer could create an increase in mosquitoes, though. He says hot weather helps the mosquitoes reproduce faster.

As far as taking precautions, Sinsko says West Nile has been around this area since 2002, and they expect to find it again. “It’s not as common as it once was, but we need to be aware of it, so we’re not exposed to the virus as much,” he adds.

There's an app for everything: even for mosquitoes. We found an app that claims to keep mosquitoes away with a high pitched noise.

Sinsko says he wouldn’t rely on that: instead, he recommends the tried and true precautions.

Wear long sleeves and long pants if you’re outside at dusk, wear mosquito repellant with DEET, check around your backyard for standing water and empty it, because that’s where they like to breed.

Mosquito Control sprays at dusk through the fall.

If you have questions or would like them to spray in your neighborhood, you can call them at (317) 221-7440.