May is typically the month when ravenous droves of the winged critters start feasting on people and mammals along the Gulf of Mexico's barrier islands and beaches.

"It's that time of year again," said Bill Opp, director of the Lee Mosquito Control District. "We've had some high tides and rainfall. The season here is definitely upon us now."

Complaints over the infamous bugs have been mounting in both counties, although the number of phone calls will surely go up as the season continues.

Southwest Florida is home to 42 species of mosquitoes.

Saltwater varieties are usually more prevalent during the early months of summer. About a week after ocean water reaches mosquito eggs above the mean high tide line, clusters of new winged vermin take to the air and begin their quest for a blood meal.

Shoreline residents and visitors are starting to itch, and mosquito control districts are starting to spray.

"It's mostly the coastal areas right now," Opp said. "The saltmarsh variety are getting kind of bad."

Opp said the district has already started spraying in areas like Bonita Beach, Pine Island and Boca Grande. The saltwater season typically lasts through November.

Adrian Salinas with the Collier Mosquito Control District said areas like Marco Island and Goodland are the hot spots in Collier.

Salinas said the Collier district experienced the first real outbreak in late April, when rains pelted the region for several straight days. That type of weather pattern, however, has not been as common in May.

"It was an anomaly because we really haven't felt the bigger impacts of the mosquito season," Salinas said. "But we're holding our breath. It could happen anywhere within the next three to five weeks."

Parks are notorious for mosquito complaints due to the high number of visitors and more native landscapes.

Lovers Key/Carl E. Johnson State Park ranger Pete Krulder said mosquitoes have already sprang up in the park, although the numbers aren't odd for this time of year.

"We've got mosquitoes our here, but it seems like it's normal," Krulder said. "We've started noticing more over the last couple of weeks."

Both districts keep a running estimate of mosquito numbers in most parts of the counties.

The Lee district uses trucks with large funnels on top to collect bugs along roadsides during night drives. Collier district officials use mosquito-attracting light traps and the never-popular human bait method.

"You get out of your truck in a wooded area and you perform a two-minute count," Salinas said. "You see how many mosquitoes the human body can attract in two minutes. If it's 50-plus I'm out of there."

Large numbers of freshwater mosquitoes aren't expected until June, when tropical rains trigger the freshwater reproductive process. Rainwater from the center of the state fills lakes, ponds and streams, and the new water causes eggs to hatch.

A few days later the newborns emerge and begin their lives as unwanted adults.

"Generally the freshwater season corresponds with tropical depressions," Opp said. "When that rain falls on the inland areas, you begin to see the freshwater species."

From a human health vantage, the freshwater variety is of much greater concern than their saltwater cousins are.

Freshwater mosquitoes are believed to carry diseases such as West Nile Virus and St. Louis encephalitis. Humans can contract both diseases, and the elderly, infants and people with weak immune systems are most vulnerable.

All mosquito species tend to drop in numbers once the dry season arrives in November. Less rain and cooler weather patterns limit the pest's ability to feed and reproduce.

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