Mosquitoes are not only a nuisance, but also important vector for transmission of various diseases. According to Jonathan M. Chase and Tiffany M. Knight hypothesize that mosquitoes should show population outbreaks after drought years. Specifically, they suggest that in wetlands are permanent breeding habitats, predators limit mosquito abundance, whereas in wetlands are rarely dry, competitors that are well adapted to predictable drying, limit mosquito abundance. However, in wetlands that dry only during drought years, mosquito predators and competitors are eliminated and will recolonize after drought period, and the mosquitoes abundance will shoot-up. They conclude that this framework may provide a reliable way to predict and prepare for year-to-year variation in mosquito abundances at large spatial scales.

For more details:

Chase, J. M. and Knight, T. M. (2003), Drought-induced mosquito outbreaks in wetlands. Ecology Letters, 6: 1017–1024. doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00533.x

[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00533.x/full]