More rain means more bugs. Critters out in full force during Arizona’s monsoon season
Warm weather and heavy rains do more than feed the plants and cool off Arizona’s hot summers. It also brings out insects and arachnids in droves.
Arizona saw heavy rain showers and thunderstorms over much of the state during the weekend. Monsoon season typically runs from June 15 to Sept. 30, according to the National Weather Service based in Flagstaff.
The storms leave behind flooding, puddles and humidity, which is a breeding ground for many insects and arachnids like mosquitoes, ants, termites, scorpions, cockroaches and Palo Verde Root Borer beetles, according to Arizona Pest Control.
Maricopa County Vector Control told Arizona’s Family they expect mosquito breeding to drastically increase near flood waters after the storms.
“They’ll come out in the thousands and thousands as they hatch, but we’re not worried about disease with them, but they’re a nuisance and they’re really ferocious biters,” James Will, managing supervisor of Vector Control, told the TV news station.
The damp weather is also preferable for spiders. They become more active after storms because there’s more of a food source, said Karen Long, the office manager of Bill’s Pest and Termite in Phoenix.
And the wind carries spiders and their babies across the land, Long said, adding that they particularly thrive off the moisture in the air.
“Just like Charlotte’s Web, they catch a piece of web and they fly away from the nest,” she said.
The wet weather will impact the area and the bugs for weeks to come, particularly mosquitoes.
Long predicts mosquitoes will come out in “full force” next month because of moisture build up.
She recommends people emptying any puddles of water around their homes to keep mosquito breeding down because they only need “a teaspoon of water to breed and survive.”
This includes tipping over old tires that may have filled with water or shaking off tarps around a person’s house.
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