WVII Interviews Dill About Insects Surviving the Winter
Jim Dill, a pest management specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with WVII (Channel 7) about insects that most likely survived the winter. Dill said to impact the most insects, the winter needs to be cold with not a lot of snow on the ground. “We had a cold winter, but unfortunately we had lots of snow,” he said. “If you’re an insect and you’re down in the leaves and stuff and all of a sudden you’ve got 3 feet of snow on you; down there in the leaf litter where you are it’s probably 25–28 degrees even though the air temperature might be -20.” Dill said the winter may have increased the survival of ticks and maintained the survival of black flies, but may have harmed mosquitoes. He said although it’s hard to predict, early-season mosquitoes don’t seem as if they will be as bad as they normally are.