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Mosquito monitoring is undertaken by local experts who volunteer their time to improve the quality of life for our community. You can help with this monitoring by reporting bites. The more information we receive, the more we can create an accurate picture which in turn helps with targeting dredging works to minimise the mosquito menace. You can report bites here using our online form, alternatively you can also report bites via the Neston Life Android App and Neston Life Apple App.

Mosquito Control

Whilst it is not possible to eradicate mosquitoes, Neston Town Council is committed to controlling the numbers in an environmentally responsible way.

The Town Council works with partners to implement a co-ordinated plan for mosquito control based on the concept of Open Marsh Water Management. Pool creation and ditching works, all of which are approved in advance by Natural England, are carried out as part of an ongoing and targeted programme, the effects of which are monitored and in turn inform future management.

Mosquito Forecast

Mosquito monitoring is undertaken by local experts who volunteer their time to improve the quality of life for our community. You can help with this monitoring by reporting bites. The more information we receive, the more we can create an accurate picture which in turn helps with targeting dredging works to minimise the mosquito menace. You can report bites here using our online form, alternatively you can also report bites via the Neston Life Android App and Neston Life Apple App.

Green traffic light

The current forecast is GREEN

The frosts have killed off all the common adult marsh mosquitoes (and almost all others). However the species survives by overwintering as larvae in certain types of pools on the marshes and as eggs in the mud at the bottom and around the periphery of those pools. The larvae are in “diapause” (a state where development is greatly slowed) and adults will only begin to emerge in March next year, and so the life cycle turns again. The larvae and eggs can withstand anything the winter can throw at them including the ponds freezing over.

There are two notable species locally in which some adults hibernate over the winter, usually in sheds, outbuildings and garages. One is Culex pipiens, a species which rarely bites humans and will not emerge till late Spring. The other is Culiseta annulata which may emerge on a sunny winter’s day and target biting anything warm-blooded, especially sweaty humans digging their gardens!

This is the last weekly mosquito forecast till Spring 2024. An annual report on the local mosquitoes and their biting nuisance is expected to be published on the Neston Town Council website shortly.

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Keys to traffic lights forecast

Red:
Serious risk. Many Neston residents are likely to be bitten, especially but not only in the evenings. Precautionary methods as outlined in the FAQs should be used when gardening or enjoying barbecues.

Amber:
Medium risk. Some Neston residents may be bitten, especially on still warm evenings.

Green:
Low risk. Neston residents are unlikely to be bitten.

Feedback on Mosquitoes and the Mosquito Monitoring Programme

Send us feedback on our monitoring reports by emailing us at: mosquitoes@neston.org.uk

Further Reading

A report by Dr. Peter Enevoldson on mosquito monitoring during 2023 is available to download: Mosquito Monitoring 2023.

A copy of the study by Michael Clarkson, Phil Jones and Sandra Hughes‐Crean entitled “Domestic mosquitoes in the Neston area of Cheshire, UK”. This single page PDF summarises the detail and conclusion of a long term study into the mosquitoes on the Dee estuary marshlands around Neston and the immediate surrounding towns and villages. This document is downloadable here.

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