Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We can spray pesticides all we want and drench ourselves in bug repellent, but there's only one sure way to stop the Asian tiger mosquito:
Get rid of any puddle, any small pool, any little cup of standing water that could harbor hundreds of squirming larvae destined to grow up into the nastiest skeeters this side of the Mississippi.
And get your neighbors to do the same.
So says the Centers for Disease Control, which has been tracking the little devils since their appearance in the United States in 1985. They now are found throughout the mid-Atlantic, up into New England and south to Florida.
They've also been found in back yards in Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke County.
"They're spreading pretty well through the neighborhoods," said Eric Day, an entomologist at Virginia Tech. And he would bet there are more in other parts of Western Virginia that haven't been positively identified and reported.
Although known to carry diseases in Asian countries, the tiger mosquitoes have not been linked to illnesses in the United States, Day said.
The worst they do is bite, and bite, and bite, day or night. "We are their favorite host," explained Dreda McCreary, a mosquito control biologist in Virginia Beach, where the insect showed up in Virginia four years ago.
The tiger mosquito evolved to breed in tree holes that collect small amounts of water. Then human beings started moving closer to the forests, McCreary said, "and we started doing what we do, which is throwing junk out the back door."
The mosquitoes saw this, and they liked it. They breed in the folds of plastic tarps, trays under potted plants, birdbaths, buckets, clogged gutters, children's toys. One man found a bunch breeding in his toilet when he returned from a two-week vacation, McCreary said.
The adults will hide in bushes, ivy and shrubbery. They attack during the day - often from the rear, McCreary has noted, a clever adaptive strategy to avoid getting smushed.
Experts believe the mosquitoes - which can fly only 300 yards on a good day - travel and spread via old tires. "It's very hard to get water out of a tire," Day said.
McCreary said the mosquito problem is growing worse in Virginia Beach and probably won't simply pass, like other bug infestations.
The best thing to do is get together with your neighbors and hunt down those puddles.
For containers such as birdbaths, change the water at least once a week and wipe down the rim to get rid of the eggs, she said.
If you spray, make sure to target the bushes, woodpiles and other shelters where the adults might hide. And wearing repellent might help, she said.
by CNB