A summer without insect stings

Observation by Mike Brubaker:

Walking the dogs this morning I noticed a little nip in the air, signaling that fall is on the way. So far I have not put on any bug spray the entire summer! A first in my memory. If it had been a dry summer that would make more sense, but we've had a fair amount of rain and in just the past week a lot of rain courtesy of Typhoon Shanshan. I wonder if we have passed through the mosquito season without a significant hatch. And it is not just the lack of mosquitoes this year, but also the lack of wasps. We have had some bumper years periodically over the past decade. In 2016 it was impossible to picnic without sharing your space with swarms of wasps. I have heard similar comments from friends in other parts of Anchorage, and on the Kenai Peninsula. As much as I appreciate the lack of stings, I worry about what the lack of important insects means for wildlife. Also curious if the lack of wasps and mosquitoes is localized or something happening across Alaska or the North.

Comment from LEO Editors: We contact Dr. Jeffery Demain with question, "We have had some observations in LEO about the seemingly lower number of mosquitoes and wasps this summer in Anchorage. Do you have any insights from the clinical side?"

Dr. Jeffery Demain Director of the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Center of Alaska writes: We have had the same observation. Not certain..curious. My guess: 1) Spring was drier, therefore less mosquito larvae" 2) Thaw freeze cycle in winter with less snow cover, therefore less survival of hibernaculum"" yellow jackets. I like it, lets hope a trend not a blip." September 10, 2018.

Derek Sikes Curator of Insects at the University of Alaska Museum, writes:

Interesting. This is the first I've heard of low mosquitoes and yellowjackets in southcentral (or anywhere in Alaska). In Fairbanks we have had a normal year for mosquitoes (perhaps on the low side, but not absent) and a fairly high year for yellowjackets. Folks on the Fairbanks Gardeners facebook page have been complaining about the high yellowjacket numbers and that all the traps are sold out at local stores.

Comments from LEO Editors:

Several variables impact insect populations, such as air and water temperature, or amount of winter snowfall. Initial mosquito forecasts estimated that the summer of 2018 would be a buggy season due to the amount of winter snow. More broadly, researchers at Dartmouth University expect the number of Arctic mosquitoes that reach adulthood to increase as temperatures continue to rise.

University of Alaska Museum Entomologist Derek Sikes collaborated on a paper with Dr. Jeffrey Demain of the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center of Alaska. By examining patient databases in Alaska for adverse reactions to insect bites and stings, they determined that there was a statistically significant increase in the number of people seeking treatment for insect reactions. This increase correlated with rising temperatures.

According to the Alaska Climate Research Center, the 2017-2018 temperatures fell largely within the normal range, although were slightly higher in between December 2017 and January 2018. Cumulative precipitation levels climbed slightly higher than normal beginning in March of 2018. Erica Lujan