Every summer, mosquitoes come out in droves to bite, buzz and annoy people. This year, however, it has been hard to ignore the clouds of these pests in the area.

Bob Drake, director of environmental health at the DeKalb County Health Department, said there are two types of mosquitoes: the Northern House mosquito, which carries and transmits diseases, and the Asian Tiger mosquito, or flood water mosquito.

Drake said the Northern House mosquito, which likes to breed in steady, murky water, has been somewhat biologically controlled because of the abundance of rain this season.

“We’ve been flushing that out so we have actually been kind of controlling that particular West Nile mosquito,” Drake said. “As long as we keep getting an inch of rain every week, we keep flushing out our catch basins and are taking care of that sort of thing.”

Drake said if the area doesn’t get rain for a few weeks, the city will treat the catch basins to control the population of the disease-transferring mosquito.

Mark Espy, assistant director of Public Works, said DeKalb uses a growth inhibitor tablet in the catch basins at the direction of the DeKalb County Health Department.

“It’s a growth control tablet, and all it does is it’s a growth inhibitor that makes the mosquito larvae’s wings not form,” Espy said. “It hardens the shell on them and their wings can’t pop out. It’s safe for the river system and things like that; it’s approved.”

Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy said Sycamore also treats their catch basins for mosquitoes.

“The Public Works Division treats all sewers and catch basins for larvae since they are wet and warm and are conducive to hatching the critters,” Mundy said. “We encourage folks to empty any container holding water where larvae could hatch.”

Drake said the population numbers of the Asian Tiger, or flood water mosquito, have greatly increased in comparison to past summers.

“The floodwater mosquitoes are much greater than last year,” Drake said. “They’re the nuisance mosquito. They’re the ones that will bite you even in the daylight.”

The flood water mosquito populations are very hard to control. The only thing the city can do is to have an adult spraying program, Drake said.

“It’s not cost effective and it’s not efficient to do it,” Drake said. “You have to hit the mosquito. I do not believe the city’s doing anything in regards to that.”

Espy said the city does not spray for these mosquitoes because there are so many wooded areas and cornfields that would be difficult to get the spray into.

“We could do a spray in town, but that’s very cost prohibitive, and it’s short-lived,” Espy said. “The people in the East tell us that as soon as you get a good wind it blows the mosquito population from that area from the wooded areas and such right back into where you just sprayed.”

Espy said that anyone living in the area is aware of the mosquito problem this year.

“Anybody that has a house knows that if you go out into your backyard, mosquitoes are a problem this year,” Espy said. “They’re everywhere.”