Lately, we’ve seen a couple of giant mosquitoes in our house! They’re at least two or three times the size of normal mosquitoes. So far no one has been bitten and they don’t seem very aggressive. How do you think they got in our house? D. H., Marblehead, MA Here’s a good guideline: If they
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Mosquitoes are out and about. If you’re in an area that has had any rain recently, you can rest assured that mosquito larvae are developing and adult mosquitoes that have already emerged are laying eggs in standing water, or in areas that will soon be flooded by rains (see When Can We Expect to See
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Spring weather seems to arrive earlier every year. I was very worried last summer about mosquitoes and mosquito bites because of Zika and all the other mosquito news. Will we have a little bit of time before it gets warm when we don’t have to worry about wearing repellent all the time? L. B., Newmarket,
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If this question is about mosquito-transmitted diseases in general, the answer is “never.” There will always be blood-sucking mosquitoes that are carrying disease and they will always have the ability to infect people when they bite. We may be able to eliminate a particular mosquito disease with vaccines, insecticides, and diligence but be assured that
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Apparently most of America is not very worried about Zika. This is according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in early August, just after the first cases of local transmission were identified in Florida. Sixty-five percent of those polled were “not too” or “not at all” worried about themselves or a family member getting
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While much of the country is waiting to see whether Zika virus will be coming to a neighborhood near them, we actually have a more immediate mosquito concern here in New England. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced in late July that West Nile Virus has been found in mosquito samples taken in Boston,
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There are lots of different insect repellent products out there, no doubt even more now that Zika virus is becoming a concern. How do you know which ones work? The best answer is to trust government testing. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has tested personal repellents for safety, longevity, and effectiveness and they have
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Mosquito larvae develop in stagnant, standing water. Any puddle, container, or other object that will hold water for at least the 7 days that it takes the larvae to mature can produce hungry adult mosquitoes. You’re not powerless against biting mosquitoes. There are plenty of protective measures that you can take in your own yard
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As public health officials in the U.S. gear up for the expected arrival of the Zika virus, the Centers for Disease Control has issued an updated map (as of March 2016) showing the occurrence of the two Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the disease. Aedes aegypti, known as the yellowfever mosquito, has now been reported from
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