Massive Mosquitoes 20x Normal Size Coming to US
Super-sized aggressive mosquitoes with a ‘stabbing’ bite are set to be unleashed across Florida this summer, bringing misery for thousands of residents.
In what could have come from a B-list Hollywood film script, the floodwater mosquito is nearly 20 times its normal-sized cousins, can strike either day or night, its eggs can lie dormant for years – and the mosquito might even be tolerant to repellants. And it’s all thanks to recent storms flooding coastal areas of the sunshine state, which paved the way for the mega-sized biters to call Florida their home. Just when you thought genetically modified mosquitoes were the worst we had to face.
The real threat of a surge in the large insects known as gallinippers came off the back of last summer’s Tropical Storm Debbie, a storm responsible for flooding in many parts of Florida and unleashing the gallinippers. The gallinipper lays eggs in soil close to ponds, streams and other water bodies that overflow when heavy rains come. The eggs can remain dry and dormant for years, until high waters cause them to hatch.
And it’s that scenario which has led to entomologists issuing alerts to local residents on the best ways to avoid getting painful bites this summer amid concerns that bumper squadrons of the gallinippers could strike again.
On their presence this summer, Phil Kaufman, University of Florida entomologist, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised, given the numbers we saw last year. When we hit the rainy cycle we may see that again.”
The species known as Psorophora ciliata is native to the eastern half of North America, has a body about half an inch long, with a black-and-white color pattern. And its females, the blood suckers, are very aggressive and carry that frightening bite.
“The bite really hurts, I can attest to that,” Kaufman, an associate professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).
To help quell the threat, residents Kaufman and entomology graduate student Ephraim Ragasa have created a document on gallinippers for the department’s “Featured Creatures” website.
Kaufman says gallinippers can be warded off with DEET-backed repellents but due to their large size they may be more tolerant of the compound than smaller mosquitoes. DEET is also known to present quite a few dangers to environmental and biological health overall. Scientists have even called it a ‘toxic stew.’
Chemical-free precautions include wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when venturing into wooded areas, especially places where standing water collects after rain storms.
As the gallinipper has an enormous appetite at the larvae stage by chomping on other mosquito larvae, there were thoughts that they could be used to reduce populations of other pest mosquitoes. But Ragasa added that there was a fatal flaw in that thinking, it just results in more gallinippers: “That kind of defeats the purpose of using them for biocontrol.”
Reads title: "Massive Mosquitoes 20x Normal Size Coming to US!!!"
Where is my shotgun
this sick science and even sicker scientists are bought for money to do whatsoever..
guess were gonna have to put scientists into the same camp as politicians seems like they are working together to make our lives more miserable.
Super-sized aggressive mosquitoes is nothing new. You haven’t been to Texas. They feed em steak here!
I haven’t been to Texas ! Really? Wow! And we’re worried about black files in the Kawarthas? Haw!
In Mississippi they claimed that the mosquitoes were so big they could pass for the state bird.
And "We the People" have no say. Oxitec-Syngenta/Monsanto-FDA. A horror in the making that has already happened. The sad part of this is that nothing is done to save the honey bees. This is criminal.
Bigger insects with more aggresive appetites and tolerance to natural insecticides will invite the millions who do not know anything about what is happening and invite those people through fear to allow them to spray anything to save themselves and they will applaud those people who SHOULD BE FEARED MOST.
The changing of the food chain with GMO's and altered insects should be forbidden on a global scale.
We have never had these mosquitos before. We've had Asian Tigers for years now, but not THESE.
WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?????? If they laid eggs here that are going to hatch, wouldn't they have to ALREADY HAVE BEEN HERE TO LAY THE EGGS?????
I smell something that really STINKS here!
Perhaps the eggs are of a size that they could be edible.
My guess is that they're going to ''launch'' them here, just like they were going to bless us with the GMO mosquitos last year!
i dont get it it says they are coming to the usa so where did they come from. then i read it said they were allready here. then it says florida is there home. i like this site but i noticed lately the writers are not very clear in their information leaving more questions than answers.
Those of us whom have lived in Florida or have good friends there aren’t so donkey minded! Jackass! Hee haw!
No problems!
If that kind of beasts should fly here into EU, so we simply should pass a new directive to forbid them fly here. So simply we'll solve all problems 🙂
Folks, these things have been around forever. “The species known as Psorophora ciliata is native to the eastern half of North America”. They are big and slow and don’t come in the big swarms like the little ones. This is like saying that they’ve found armadillos in Texas. Next thing you know these clowns will be warning you of the dangers of Dihydrogen monoxide.
DDT. Bring back DDT spraying.
That's right, bring back DDT so then we can see an uptick in Polio that they'll blame on the un-vaccinated
They look a bit like Obamas new drones