Mosquito numbers are low in and around Twin Cities, according to a surveillance. Here's why.

The number of human-biting mosquitoes in and around the Twin Cities metro was low, according to surveillance done by the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District on Wednesday.

Most carbon dioxide traps set up by the organization collected zero mosquitoes and "very few" net collections added any. Only one trap, located near Victoria, Minnesota, collected more than 10. The Carver County-based trap collected 14 of the insects, officials said.

Scott Larson, an entomologist for the government agency, said most of the mosquitoes collected were Culiseta inornata, a species that will bite humans in the spring, but is reluctant to do so at other times of the year due to its interest in feeding on domestic animals.

According to the agency, cool temperatures and dry conditions were reasons for the low count.

The amount of rain the Twin Cities received on Sunday was enough to hatch another brood of mosquitoes, officials said. Staff with the agency will be in wetlands on Monday and Tuesday to see where larvae developed, and others will determine which of those species are human-biting. 

Treatments to control the insect are likely to start on Wednesday in areas where larvae have hatched and where cattail mosquitoes are abundant, the agency said.