This winter's frigid temperatures could continue their impact on Kentucky in the spring when it comes to insect populations. A bug making its mark on the state’s Hemlock trees could find the going tough this winter.
Artic air has filtered into the Bluegrass state more than once in the early part of 2014. While uncomfortable and challenging to humans and livestock, those blasts of cold air can be deadly for exposed insects. University of Kentucky Entomologist Lee Townsend says the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid would fall in that category.
“It spends the winter out on branches, so it’s really exposed to these temperatures. We’re getting some that are going to be cold enough to have an impact on the population. It won’t get rid of them, but it certainly will be a big help I think,” said Townsend.
On the flip side, the veteran insect specialist says bugs introduced in Kentucky to feed on the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid may also become casualties.
Townsend says some 50 species of mosquitos are found in Kentucky. Some of these biting insects can survive underground. But, Townsend says many household mosquitos are exposed during the winter.
“The house mosquito which is the one that we are most concerned about when we think about West Nile virus and the outbreaks that we’ve had in the past, they overwinter as adults in relatively unprotected places. So, the impact on them may be pretty significant,” adds Townsend.
Townsend believes as temperatures warm into the summer months, the mosquito numbers can pick up.
