THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040211
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
It's small, it's a terror and it will make life miserable for Chesapeake residents this summer.
If Chesapeake folks think trying to cope with this recent summer heat wave hasn't been bad enough, now comes aedes albopictus - also known by its more popular nickname, the Asian tiger mosquito - to torment citizens like no mosquito has done before.
The Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission issued a citizens alert this week regarding the increased presence of the Asian tiger mosquito in the city.
``We started seeing them the year before last,'' said Gene Payne, superintendent of the Great Bridge District of the Chesapeake Mosquito Commission. ``It started to pick up last year, and now this year we're seeing them in increasing numbers.''
Payne wouldn't go so far as to call it an all out infestation, but the Asian tiger is certainly making its presence known in the city.
The tiger mosquito came to the United States from Asia during the 1980s, sneaking into the country in tire casings, Payne said. They multiplied quickly and began to spread throughout the country.
For the past two years, Virginia Beach has had a bigger problem with them than Chesapeake, but now this combative and pesky insect is setting its sights on local environs.
``It can be easily recognized,'' Payne said. ``It's shiny black with a pretty white stripe on the center of its head down to its back.''
What makes this little sucker more irritating than its American cousins?
In short, Payne said, it's hard to swat, it bites at all hours of the day, normal truck spraying is ineffectual and it has the potential to transmit diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever, dog heartworms and several types of encephalitis.
But don't be alarmed about its disease carrying ability yet, Payne said. So far, the Asian tiger has not been found by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to carry any of these major diseases in the United States, but the potential is there.
But the tiger's other traits still make it a mighty pest.
Where most mosquitoes usually buzz around your face and torso, the tiger is content to attack humans from knee high on down, generally biting people on their ankles, shins and calves. It's considered a light lander, so when one alights on your leg, you won't know about it until after you've been bitten.
``It flies low to the ground, and it rests in vegetation like grass or shrubs,'' Payne said. ``It will stay there until someone walks by and then it attacks.''
Most mosquitoes are active either at dawn or dusk, but this critter is active anytime during the day.
And try swatting one. It ain't easy.
``They are what we call skittish insects,'' he said. ``Its flight is very erratic and low to the ground, so its hard to swat.''
Spraying doesn't seem to help control the pest.
``It doesn't work ,'' Payne said, ``because they rest in low-lying vegetation and our sprays attack mosquitoes in the air.''
In addition, the tiger mosquito doesn't breed in the usual places most other mosquitoes use: any area of still water such as a borrow pit, pond or puddle. Rather, the tiger is sneaky and likes to breed in small out-of-the-way spots of standing water such as an old tire, discarded coffee can or flower pot with a little water inside or maybe an old plastic child's pool sitting in the corner of a yard.
Payne said his office and those of the other Chesapeake Mosquito Commission District have been getting calls from citizens concerned about these pests.
``It's now becoming a problem for Chesapeake,'' Payne said. MEMO: Chesapeake citizens concerned about Asian tiger mosquitoes in their
community should call the Chesapeake Mosquito Commission office in their
district: Great Bridge/Washington at 547-9264, Deep Creek at 558-0917,
South Norfolk at 545-4749 or Western Branch at 484-7617.
by CNB