TULSA, Okla. — Eastern Oklahoma has been warm, humid, and very wet in recent weeks.
In fact, Northeast Oklahoma recorded between 4 and 9 inches of rain in just the past 30 days, according to the MesoNet weather station network.
Dr. Justin Talley, Oklahoma State University Professor of Entomology, told 2 News, "Warm and wet or warm and humid will allow mosquitoes to become more prolific."
"Anytime we get consistent amounts of rainfall we're going to have the possibility of having more mosquitoes," he said.
Mosquitoes thrive in areas of standing water, so that's why many people now are getting our first bites of the season. Conditions have been ideal lately with the excessive rain and warm temperatures.
"They're always coming from water, so if you have standing water in and around your house, you need to get rid of that if you can," Dr. Talley said.
There's a certain type of mosquito that's specifically out now.
"What we're really seeing right now are the larger mosquitoes, what we can Psorophora, but a lot of people in our area call Gallinippers, because they're so large," he explained.
These mosquitoes tend to bite us outside of the normal evening hours.
"They can be as active as early as 10 o'clock in the morning and feed throughout the day," Dr. Talley said.
He told us the best way to prevent mosquito bites is to use repellents that contains the chemical DEET. He also said there are natural repellents you can try as well.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
