jjcollins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 1999
- Messages
- 1,394
The population of an unusual mosquito is soaring here in Central Florida. They can't carry malaria, but can carry West Nile. And they're enormous - big enough to bite through your clothes.
You can't get away with just spraying your exposed skin when you go out. It looks like you should probably start spraying your clothes too.
A traditional mosquito (on the right in photo) looks like a pip-squeak compared to a psorophora ciliata (left in photo).
Dr. David Victers is UCF's insect intellect. He says all our consistently rainy weather has brought this gigantic bug out in force.
You will realize this one is biting you. You'll feel pain when he pokes his large beak into your skin. That beak is three times as long as most mosquitoes.
And Dr. Victers says it could pierce your clothing: "I would say it could penetrate a quarter inch of fabric."
Barbara Mitchell says now covers her ankles with her pants and socks. And she's seen the bugs causing the trouble. "I've been telling friends, these are birds. If they hit you, they'll knock you out! If they bite you, they'll kill you! That's the joke I've been telling people."
Just like smaller mosquitoes, the psorophora can carry the West Nile virus. Unlike normal mosquitoes, the psorophora lay their eggs in cracks of dry ground. The eggs can lie there for as long as three years. But as soon as they get wet, they hatch in as little as three days and head out looking for food.
Dr. Vickers says, not only will you feel it when you're stung, you'll feel it for several days later.
According to Dr. Vickers, back in the '50s, they swarmed in the Everglades in such magnitude that they would drain cattle of their blood.
jj........
You can't get away with just spraying your exposed skin when you go out. It looks like you should probably start spraying your clothes too.
A traditional mosquito (on the right in photo) looks like a pip-squeak compared to a psorophora ciliata (left in photo).
Dr. David Victers is UCF's insect intellect. He says all our consistently rainy weather has brought this gigantic bug out in force.
You will realize this one is biting you. You'll feel pain when he pokes his large beak into your skin. That beak is three times as long as most mosquitoes.
And Dr. Victers says it could pierce your clothing: "I would say it could penetrate a quarter inch of fabric."
Barbara Mitchell says now covers her ankles with her pants and socks. And she's seen the bugs causing the trouble. "I've been telling friends, these are birds. If they hit you, they'll knock you out! If they bite you, they'll kill you! That's the joke I've been telling people."
Just like smaller mosquitoes, the psorophora can carry the West Nile virus. Unlike normal mosquitoes, the psorophora lay their eggs in cracks of dry ground. The eggs can lie there for as long as three years. But as soon as they get wet, they hatch in as little as three days and head out looking for food.
Dr. Vickers says, not only will you feel it when you're stung, you'll feel it for several days later.
According to Dr. Vickers, back in the '50s, they swarmed in the Everglades in such magnitude that they would drain cattle of their blood.
jj........
