A bad season for bugs

As summer kicks off, warmer weather comes with it. As do swarms of mosquitoes.

This summer, people should expect even more buzzing insects than usual. The warm winter coupled with the wet spring have created perfect conditions for mosquitoes — and other insects as well — to breed.

“It already is bad,” said Joe DiDominica, a co-owner of Dee’s Nursery in Oceanside. “It’s been a crazy season for insects.”

And though the season will be bad, officials are getting ready for it. The Nassau County Department of Health has already begun sampling its 42 mosquito trap sites. It does this so it can determine if there are any disease-carrying mosquitoes in the area.

“If one of those mosquito traps were to test positive, we notify the Department of Public Works, which will survey the environment surrounding the area of the trap to determine if there’s any mosquito breeding going on,” said Mary Ellen Laurain, spokeswoman for the county Department of Health. “And if so, they will treat the area.”

Laurain said that, right now, the county has not yet set up a schedule for mosquito spraying. But the DPW, Laurain said, has been spraying larvicide along the South Shore marshes since mid-spring.

Until Nassau County begins spraying, though, there are steps that residents can take to mitigate the amount of mosquitoes on their property.

The first and most effective is also the most well known: empty any standing water you have on your property. “You don’t need a lot of standing water to breed mosquitoes,” Laurain said. “It could be the bottom of a flower pot.”

DiDominica said that there insecticides that homeowners can buy that will kill mosquitoes and other insects. “Some are organic that repel [insects],” DiDominica said, “that are made out of citronella oils and lemongrass oils that repel them, and [homeowners] can use it the day they’re having a barbecue.”

There are also chemical insecticides that homeowners can purchase. “A little more dangerous, but are more effective, and as long as they’re used properly they’re safe to use,” said DiDominica.

Another option is citronella plants. The plants give off a natural citronella odor that repels insects. They’ve been very popular this year, DiDominica said.

“We just got a huge shipment in, because people are planting them around their decks to help repel [insects],” said DiDominica. “And it actually smells very nice. It’s not a smell that a human wouldn’t like.”