Rain may lead to uptick in mosquitoes in Oklahoma

STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) - With all the rainfall Oklahoma has seen in the last month, mosquitoes are out and about even more than normal.

Big mosquitoes are causing big problems.

“The type of mosquitoes everyone is seeing right now are the large Gallinipper mosquitoes because those are floodwater mosquitoes,” said Justin Talley, Extension Livestock Entomologist at OSU.

Talley says those mosquitoes have a painful bite. However, since they’re bigger, they’re easier to see.

As the weather warms up, smaller mosquitoes emerge and it’s even more important to take preventative measures

“The main thing is whenever you use DEET, it’s one of our best repellants, you just have to be careful when you use DEET,” said Talley.

You don’t want to apply it to any child under the age of two.

“Adults can apply it anywhere on your skin as long as it’s below 25%,” said Talley. 

Some clothing, like athletic wear, is so thin you need to apply it to that as well.

“Because a mosquito can feed through that type of clothing,” Talley said.

Talley says the best thing you can do is get rid of any water in your yard.

“Of course with the excessive amounts of rain, that’s very hard to do but if you want to think about getting rid of water and you cannot get rid of them, that’s when you want to go to these mosquito dunks. Little products you put in the water and it kills the mosquito larvae,” he said. 

You should also look in areas that go unnoticed. 

“Clogged storm drains or clogged French drains then you can have mosquitoes developing in there without even knowing it,” said Talley. 

Talley says people also need to be aware of ticks this time of year since the moisture has made them more prevalent as well, especially in livestock like horses.