ARIZONA, USA — Mosquitoes should just die here.
“Theoretically, it's too hot, too dry," Krijn Paaijmans said. "Where are they during the day? How do they survive? How did they do it?”
Paaijmans has been studying mosquitoes for years, trying to predict their movements in places where they spread deadly diseases like Dengue and Zika. But those are places in Africa and South America, places nothing like Arizona.
“I didn't know we had such a mosquito problem here in the Valley," he said.
Until he came here and realized there are tons of mosquitoes all over the place.
Mosquitoes need stagnant water to lay their eggs and grow, and Arizona is a desert... where water doesn't last that long on its own. And during the hottest hours of the day, mosquitoes shouldn't be able to survive.
“But for some reason, we have these mosquitoes flying around and attacking us right early morning, late evening," Paaijmans said. "They have to hide somewhere."
That's one of the mysteries Paaijmans is trying to solve.
Meanwhile, Maricopa County Vector Control is just trying to keep the mosquitoes from spreading disease.
“We set up traps to surveil areas across Maricopa County," spokesman Johnny Dilone said. "If you see that the trap has over 300 [mosquitoes] that means that there are going to be a lot of complaints in that area."
You can check your neighborhood on the county's vector control map to see how often your area has been treated for mosquitos.
But even if you're getting eaten alive by the monsoon mosquitoes, Dilone said there's good news: those probably aren't the mosquitoes that carry diseases like West Nile.
“Those are floodwater mosquitoes that are not known to carry any disease," Dilone said. "But they are the ones that are most noticeable, the ones that bite the most.”
Maricopa County Vector Control has a website set up to help people control mosquitoes. Here are the four things county officials want you to do:
- REPEL mosquitos using EPA-registered insect repellent
- REMOVE standing water from your home and yard
- REPAIR or replace damaged window and door screens
- REMIND your family, friends and neighbors about mosquito safety
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