Yesterday, I thought a walk at Jones Beach would be so nice.
It was getting late, nearing sundown, and I hadn’t been to
the beach all summer. As a child, I lived for the
beach. I guess that’s what prompted me to install a
pond in the first place. I wanted waterfront property
and I got it. But I figured a slow walk, with shoes in
hand, along the surf at eventide ... it paints a nice
picture, doesn’t it?
Wrong! It took about 10
minutes of walking, taking pictures of the incredible
painted sunset for me to notice the girl standing next to me
was literally COVERED by mosquitoes! There were others
who had started running from the sand dunes toward their
cars. It took a couple of minutes for everything to
register before we took flight too.
There had been a crisp breeze,
almost a real wind blowing, but part of the sky was covered
with the “former” rain clouds. In fact, we were right
in the middle of a rain break. It wasn’t more than
drizzling, hardly more than a mist, and not at all
unpleasant at the beach. It almost seemed to be ocean
spray. But it brought out the breeding mosquitoes for
their blood meal.
Here are a few mosquito facts everybody should know.
First, they are all egg-layers, although the eggs are laid
differently depending upon which specie of mosquito.
Next, there are some very effective
larvacides on the market that everybody with a pond or
birdbath, or fountain, should use. They target the
mosquito and do not kill beneficial insects like the
non-selective chemical sprays. Some eggs will hatch
into larva within 3-4 days. Others can take up to 18
days. Even others are well adapted to drought areas
and can remain viable for many years until activated by
water.
Yellow Fever was found to be
spread by the brindled Aedes aegypti mosquito. Malaria
is carried by Culex pipiens, the common gray house mosquito.
The primary carrier of Equine Encephalitis virus is
the Culiseta melanura, a species of “swamp mosquito” that
breeds in underground bodies of water cavities, such as
under the trunk of a swamp tree at water level, especially
the white cedar. Curiously, the mosquito has to feed
on a bird, and then another will act as carrier when it
bites an infected bird AND transfers to a human host.
Now, I am going to simplify this by not naming the Latin
names of specific mosquito species, but just to let you know
that
1)
There are
different mosquitoes responsible for carrying specific
diseases
2)
There are
EPA registered and approved larvacides on the market
3)
You don’t
have to wait for your town or county to kill the mosquitoes
for you
4)
Nobody
has to wait until a deadly mosquito-carried virus strikes
home to
take action.
5)
Mosquitoes are not just bothersome pests.
6)
Mosquitoes breed in flower pots, old tires, sea shells, and
anything else that holds water. It’s not just about
ponds…
