Augusta is home to 22 species of mosquitoes -- and Fred Koehle knows them all.

"The Culex variety is popular," he said, "but another one we see a lot of is aedes albolopictus."

As Augusta's mosquito control officer, Mr. Koehle's job is to kill the bothersome insects. Lately, he said, recent rains have the enemy out in force.

"Anytime you have these long dry spells, and then all of a sudden you get lots of rain, you're going to have a humongous mosquito hatch," he said.

An extended drought left millions of eggs just waiting for enough moisture to hatch.

"The mosquitoes we have in this area lay eggs that can be dormant as long as four years," Mr. Koehle said.

Sudden rains two weeks ago created a huge surplus of mosquitoes -- and a flurry of complaints.

"They've really started to pile up -- and if you put it on the calendar, it's the rain a week and a half ago," Mr. Koehle said. "And with more rain we got last week, it will be worse next week."

Augusta has five mosquito control trucks -- one of which is broken.

"We do have a new one ordered," he said. "So within the next week and a half, we'll have five operators out there using five trucks."

Columbia County doesn't have a mosquito control department and receives only occasional complaints, Emergency Services Director Pam Tucker said.

The county's Roads & Bridges Department puts larvacides into many retention ponds and drainage areas as a preventive measure, she said.