Heather Hyland, a self-proclaimed insect nerd, has found a love for mosquitoes despite the diseases they carry.
“I loved insects, I’d say since I was 2 years old,” Hyland said.
Initially, a public information officer for the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District in southern California, said her fascination with insects was because many people don’t like them. So as a child, Hyland thought, someone should love them. That love became entomology.
“They are very interesting. It is these little intricate little mistakes with the ability to do great things. If you look at how prehistoric a mosquito is, it has six mouthparts. There are so many different things they can do that are great, ”said Hyland.
Mosquitoes can transmit disease, feel heat, even smell carbon dioxide that comes out of human bodies. In Orange County, vector control employees typically see an average of 24 mosquitoes in a trap. You are now viewing 118.
“We look at the region – Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego – they have already had positive West Nile mosquitoes in their traps,” he said. “Our district lines are invisible. There is no line that says ‘there are no mosquitoes or birds with the West Nile, don’t come around here.'”
It is only a matter of time before those county and state lines are cleared. Mosquitoes don’t see barriers. And then there is the coronavirus factor.
“People are staying home because of COVID regulations, so people are gardening, more projects, more plants, watering more,” Hyland said. “Those lead to cryptic fountains, so you will have little pockets around your garden with standing water.”
Some do not maintain groups due to financial reasons. And the pools are a great breeding ground. In Lee County, Florida, inspectors show up at social networks check storm drains that are great sources of reproduction
They are also fighting the insect battle from above, posting their helicopter images on social media, documenting the effort to hunt down the “salt marsh” mosquitoes.
Airbus H125 helicopters are commonly used in daily LCMCD operations, allowing inspectors to land in mangroves where marsh mosquitoes are common. pic.twitter.com/IwPg5gGkTd
– Lee County Mosquito Control (@LeeCoMosquito) May 12, 2020
In previous years, when COVID-19 was not a factor, Hyland says the battle of errors between vector control organizations turned musical. The Vector Control District of Greater Los Angeles County Created the “mosquito rap” which, they say, was intended to “educate students about mosquito-borne diseases.”
“We become quite competitive in the world of mistakes,” said Hyland. “We love insects.
“One thing that started happening in 2015, the East Coast came up with a tic tick. We came up with a mosquito rap and Virginia came up with another mosquito rap. “
In Fairfax County, Virginia, Insect biologist “MC Bugg-Z” rhymed the “West Nile Story” about prevention.
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“It became so popular at our national conferences that we wanted them to act,” says Hyland.
Contest or not, prevention information is the same: remove standing water, use an EPA-registered repellent, and “take control” of your garden. If you succeed West Nile virus, It is like the flu and affects people differently. Some will have a minor reaction and others an extremely severe case. Everything from a mosquito bite.
“A bird will have the West Nile, the mosquito will bite the bird, the mosquito will lay eggs because it now has a blood mule, it needs more blood to produce more eggs, then it will bite a human and transmit the West Nile to the human,” Hyland said. .
You can’t cough and give it away. And by the way, mosquitoes cannot transmit the coronavirus.
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