Mosquitoes and Canadian summers go hand-in-hand, but those who feel their hands have been busier than usual slapping away the pesky insects aren't imagining things.

Experts across the country say there has been a recent surge in the mosquito population, thanks to large amounts of rain a few weeks ago. But part of the perception the mosquitoes are out in droves is also due to a delayed season.

"This year we've had a very cool April, May and the first part of June...so that has really delayed development of the first generation," said Philip Curry, an entomologist with both the Manitoba and Saskatchewan governments.

There are two main types of mosquitoes: culex mosquitoes have several generations per summer and are the main carriers of West Nile Virus, and floodwater mosquitoes, also known as nuisance mosquitoes.

"If you get a big rain, more than an inch, count ten days and you will get this (floodwater) species," said Curry. "We've had hordes of them over the last few weeks."

John Winters, superintendent of Algonquin Provincial Park, covering a large expanse in central Ontario, said he has seen a "bumper crop" of mosquitoes.

"Algonquin Park has been I think significantly above what we've seen in the last 10 years or so for the early season," he said.

"We've had more frequent rain storms and heavier rain storms, which do create good conditions for mosquitoes."

Experts say heavy rains across much of the country a few weeks ago has sparked a boom in the population of the aptly named nuisance mosquitoes.

"These mosquitoes are very aggressive mosquitoes," Curry said. There are very few cases of such mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, but they're downright annoying, he said.

"They're just ferocious and they love biting mammals."

Louis Lapierre, general director of the Greater Moncton Pest Control Commission, said a prolonged wet season has been a boon to mosquitoes out east.

"We have more to come, there's no question about that," he said.

"How much more will all depend on the weather. Wet, humid, hot weather will bring in lots of mosquitoes."

There is good news though for all those itching to see them gone: barring any more consistent downpours, they should soon peter out, Curry said.

Yet that in itself can be a danger. When the floodwater, or nuisance, mosquitoes start to disappear in a typical season, it's the culex mosquitoes' time to shine.

It's not a very noticeable mosquito, Curry said, so people shouldn't stop wearing repellent just because the nuisance mosquitoes aren't buzzing around their ears or swarming their ankles.

The culex mosquitoes' second generation should start to appear in the next few days, Curry said, and it's generally the largest and the one that starts to spread the West Nile virus.

While recent rains have led to a boom in nuisance mosquitoes, cold weather in the spring slowed the progression of the culex species. Carl Lowenberger, a biological sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, estimated the season in BC's Lower Mainland is about three weeks delayed due to cold weather in the spring and early summer.

"Because we've got these nice warm temperatures now we're starting to see development which should have happened probably a month ago," he said.

As for the nuisance, or floodwater, species, a high Fraser River is to blame for them coming out in droves, Lowenberger said. That species' eggs are laid the year before in areas such as depressions. When those areas are flooded, by a river or melting snow for example, the eggs hatch.

Culex mosquitoes overwinter as adults and lay their eggs in the spring. Those are the kinds of mosquitoes that like the standing water that gets such a bad rap.

But while on the subject of standing water, that's one point mosquito experts would like to clarify. Standing water is not a mosquito breeding ground.

"Mosquitoes don't breed in the water," said Taz Stuart, an entomologist with the City of Winnipeg.

"It's a larval habitat or larval development site. Mosquitoes breed in the air...It's an old term that has stuck and it drives me nuts."

As the managing editor for Cottage Life magazine, a publication primarily targeting Ontario cottage country, Michelle Kelly has much experience with mosquitoes, a scourge of cottagers everywhere.

"A lot of people have said, 'This is the worst summer for the mosquito in memory,"' she said.

"I have been going to a cottage my whole life and I am one of those people who luckily never gets bitten, or rarely gets bitten. This year I came back from the cottage one weekend covered in bites. It's certainly the worst I've ever seen it."

There's no shortage of fancy contraptions for killing mosquitoes, from citronella candles and bug coils, to zappers and machines that attract mosquitoes with carbon dioxide then suck them in and trap them. But Kelly finds the simple approaches work best: long sleeves and pants, bug spray and staying indoors at dusk.