THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 3, 1996 TAG: 9608030377
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, Staff photo
LENGTH: 129 lines
If mosquitoes are driving you crazy, don't reach for the phone to complain to City Hall. First, check your own back yard.
You might be bringing all that itching and scratching upon yourself by letting rain water fill up your flower pots and other yard containers.
What's bugging you is probably a small black pest with white stripes on its legs, known as the Asian tiger mosquito because it's so aggressive, said Dreda McCreary, biologist with the Virginia Beach Mosquito Control.
And one of those formidable critters is probably laying eggs at this very moment in that little bit of water in the bottom of your flower pot saucer. Another is probably doing the same in that tiny puddle in the leaf litter in the gutter you meant to clean out last spring.
As homebodies, Asian tiger mosquitoes stay in the bushes close to where they are born, and that means they're around your yard. They also are not choosy about feeding times, buzzing out from the foliage morning, noon and night to feast on you and yours.
Across Hampton Roads, the story is the same.
The Asian tiger mosquitoes, along with about 29 other species of the little vermin, breed in water and are proliferating by the millions because of the abundance of rain.
And as Bobby Howell, who's in charge of mosquito control in Suffolk, puts it, ``They're growing and getting fat and eating everybody up.''
The Asian tiger is the most pesky because it loves to breed in containers. And it's not choosy about them, either, said Agnes Flemming, division head of Vector Control in Norfolk.
It will lay its eggs anywhere there's a little water, even if it's a puddle on your boat tarpaulin or a compartment on your child's Big Wheel.
But that also means the Asian tiger is one of the easiest mosquitoes for homeowners to control. Mostly, you just have to dump out any standing water in your yard, or on your deck or porch.
``Citizens are forgetting to clean out birdbaths and dog bowls,'' Flemming went on. ``Not just empty them, but scour the sides at least once a week because the eggs could be attached to the sides.''
Suburban and rural areas are getting a double whammy this summer from a medium-sized brown mosquito, also with white stripes on its legs. Known as the woodland pond mosquito, this aggressive pest usually breeds only in the spring, in puddles and ponds in the woods that occur after spring rains. By summer, the water usually has dried up, but not this year, said McCreary, of Virginia Beach Mosquito Control.
This is the first time in the 18 years she has worked in mosquito control that she has seen the woodland pond mosquito emerge in great numbers in midsummer. ``It's very interesting from a scientific point of view,'' McCreary said, ``but not from the public's point of view.''
Because it breeds in the woods, it's not something the homeowner can control.
Area mosquito control operations have doubled their efforts to educate the public, as well as to spray larvacides on standing water and, except for Norfolk, to fog, all to keep up with the burgeoning population of this summer scourge.
Portsmouth got a helping hand last month when Air Force planes sprayed federal facilities and neighborhoods north of the Western Freeway, and they will spray again at the end of August.
This week, Virginia Beach mosquito control trucks have begun fogging operations in the early morning, between 3 and 7 a.m. weekdays and on Saturdays, because late-afternoon thunderstorms have cut into their regular spraying time.
Chesapeake is considering the same move, said Leroy Bohn, superintendent of the Washington Borough Mosquito Control Commission in Chesapeake.
``But to be honest with you, until the weather clears up, it's going to get worse,'' Bohn said. ``We might be killing thousands, but the weather's reproducing millions.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Charlie Mullen has a job that fights bites: He's a mosquito control
inspector for Virginia Beach. Friday, he was sampling water - which
held mosquito larvae - in the Timberlake area.
Photo by MORT FRYMAN\The Virginian-Pilot
With curiosity and disgust, Kylie McDonald, left, and Christina
Caswell - 5-year-olds from the Beach - get a look at water
containing mosquito larvae, courtesy of inspector Charlie Mullen.
Graphic
Drawing
Black with white stripes on their legs, Asian tigers will lay
eggs anywhere there's a little water. Nor are they choosy about when
to bite. They are the easiest to control: Dump standing water from
containers, then scrub them.
Medium-sized brown mosquitoes, also with white stripes on their
legs, these guys usually breed after spring rains. But the wet
summer has kept them around longer. They are harder for homeowners
to control, because they breed in the woods.
Side Bar
GETTING RID OF MOSQUITOES:
Clean clogged gutters.
Empty children's wading pools after use. Pick up other toys that
could collect water.
Cover garbage cans you use, and store those you don't.
Pick up watering cans or buckets around the yard.
Remove old tires; they can collect rainwater.
Look for other sources of standing water: leaky faucets,
birdbaths, fence holes, pet water dishes, even holes in trees. They
can all provide breeding spots for mosquitoes to lay thousands of
eggs.
Call your mosquito control commission. A staff member will
inspect your property and recommend ways to reduce the mosquito
population.
[SIDE BAR]
USING DEET-BASED
INSECT REPELLENTS:
Use a low-DEET repellent, sparingly.
Don't apply repellent near eyes, on lips or on broken skin. To
apply a spray to your face, spray your palm, then spread the
repellent carefully.
Don't breathe a repellent spray, and don't use it near food.
Once it's not needed, wash off repellent with soap and water.
On children, use a product containing less than 10 percent DEET,
and keep it out of their reach. Don't apply repellent to a young
child's hands, which often wind up in the mouth.
Consider spraying your clothes instead of your skin. But note
that DEET can damage spandex, rayon and acetate.
Sources: Consumer Reports; interviews.
KEYWORDS: MOSQUITOES by CNB