As summer temperatures rise, June 16-22 marks National Mosquito Awareness Week.

In Atascadero, David Story, the owner of pest control service Story Termite & Pest, says this is about the time of year he starts to hear from clients in need of mosquito control.

“It seems like right about this time it’s just getting warmed up a little bit, and yeah, the phones will start ringing,” Story said.

He theorizes that an increase in rain over the past few seasons will result in more mosquitoes.

“We battle them every year. In this last couple of years, we had some good rains so it’s kind of made it a little bit worse,” Story said.

He says the first step in controlling the mosquito population is finding their water source — rain gutters, water troughs, or any receptacle that holds open water.

For those who can’t eliminate open water sources like troughs for livestock, Story suggests purchasing mosquito fish.

“Put them in your fish tank. Or if you got little fish ponds, those guys will take up the larvae in there,” Story said.

Those interested in a green approach can plant natural mosquito repellents like lavender and lemongrass.

For clients with severe mosquito problems, Story suggests professional assistance.

“We’ve got a lot of good companies on the Central Coast and they have mosquito programs that come out and those are like a maintenance type of thing,” Story said.