An explosion of salt marsh mosquitoes, described as the largest spring hatch in several years, is expected to emerge across Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore this week.
Triggered by wetlands flooding last month -- the result of high tides and 10 days of heavy rains -- the event could drive mosquito "landings" on exposed skin as high as 100 a minute in parts of Dorchester County, officials said.
In urban and suburban communities, higher populations of freshwater mosquitoes also are expected this week because of the recent rains. Mosquito control officials are warning residents to protect their families against mosquito bites and asking them to help eliminate pockets of standing water where the insects breed.
Mosquitoes "will be starting to be a problem as early as [yesterday] in many areas," said Cy Lesser, chief of the state's Mosquito Control Division.
Cool weather has slowed their development, but "when it gets to 70 or 80 degrees, like it's supposed to in the next couple of days, their biting activity will increase," he said.
The bugs from this hatch -- the first big one of the season -- are expected to remain a problem for weeks. And the high numbers now could foreshadow a bad summer for mosquitoes.
"If we start June with a big population, it oftentimes means we have trouble keeping up [with mosquito-control efforts] as the season progresses," Lesser said.
But it all depends on how the summer weather unfolds. Sustained wet weather or sustained dry weather could hold down mosquito populations, Lesser said. Rainy weather broken by two- or three-week intervals of dry weather would mean more mosquitoes.
How bad will it be on the Eastern Shore this month?
Mosquito-control officials in Salisbury say they have had few complaints. "But I think that will change by Wednesday; we're kind of geared up," said David Schofield, the assistant mosquito control chief who directs operations on the Shore.
People in parts of Dorchester County are accustomed to having eight to 10 salt marsh mosquitoes land on them per minute during mosquito season, Schofield said.
But in the wake of the recent marsh flooding, he said, "I suspect we'll probably be averaging between 25 and 100 per minute in some spots in Dorchester County. ... That's pretty awesome."
Parts of the Eastern Shore recorded 6 to 7 inches of rain between May 18 and 27.
