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Show t '-, n AEDES MELANIMON is a common pasture mosquito mos-quito found in the Uintah Basin. Mosquitoes go from egg to biting adult in only six days. Because of the large amount of snow and water this year, it should prove to be a bad summer for mosquitoes. AAosquftoes, from egg tfo biting adulv in sin days If you thought last year was a bad year for mosquitoes, you haven't seen anything yet. Even though the Uintah County Mosquito Mos-quito Abatement District annually kills between 75 and 95 percent of all mosquitoes mos-quitoes in the area, there are still billions out there looking for blood. Mosquitoes are incredibly successful in the environment of the Uintah Basin. In order to reproduce, mosquitoes must have two things, water and blood. Only female mosquitoes bite. Males live on nectar from flowering plants, much like honey bees. Once a female mosquito has had a blood meal, they are capable of laying 150 oval shaped eggs within three days. These eggs are so small, several will fit on the head of a pin. After she stops laying lay-ing eggs, she is immediately looking for another meal and the process is repeated for her entire life span of only several weeks. If you have even been at the Ouray Wildlife Refuge, you may think every mosquito in the area converges on you indiscriminantly with the sole purpose of biting you. This is not the case. Before the female ever Lakes your blood she sizes you up for quality. She is equipped with extremely sensitive senses. Her eyes are equipped with 400 individual lenses per eye. She is capable of smelling smell-ing and tasting you before she even bites, through very sensitive organs on her antenna and six legs. She chemically analyzes the carbon dioxide emissions from your exhalations and even accurately ac-curately takes your body temperature. Only after she is satisfied your blood will meet her requirements will she bite. From this involved process it may seem like a long drawn out process, but the mosquito is capable of making all these calculations in a very few seconds. Aedes melanimon is the common pasture mosquito in Uintah County. This is one of six different subspecies in Ashley Valley, one of 20 different subspecies in Uintah County, one of 52 different subspecies in Utah, and one of over 200 different subspecies in the world. Aedes melanimon is incredibly adaptable and successful. After a blood meal the female looks for a suitable place to lay her eggs. This is a damp mud flat when possible. The eggs will hatch only if they are flooded by fresh water and, if necessary, can lie in a dormant state for months. As soon as the water comes, the lavae hatch within five or ten minutes. Within six days the mosquitoes have enlarged and shed their skins four times, increased their body weight approximately ap-proximately 500 fold, acquired wings, legs, piercing sucking mouth parts, and is ready to begin reproducing. Because of the enormous reproductive capabilities, the Uintah County Mosquito Abatement District must work constantly constant-ly to kill as many mosquitoes as possible. possi-ble. Dr. Steven Romney is in charge of the Uintah County District, and is the only on-ly full-time employee. This year Dr. Romney will have 11 temporary employees, mostly school teachers, to assist in the onslaught. Dr. Romney says he is occasionally asked what he does during the winter, since there are no mosquitoes. He says it is extremely important im-portant to know mosquitoes in order to be effective. Stagnant water is one of the major problems in mosquito reproduction. reproduc-tion. Dr. Romney says he spends his winters mapping out all of the stagnant water in the entire valley, and making studies to determine where his time can best be spent. v Although mosquitoes don't usually appear ap-pear until April, Dr. Romney is out spraying as early as February. He says the best time to spray for mosquitoes is while they are in the larvae stage. Dr. Romney uses a spray in the early months which reacts in much the same way mosquitoes mos-quitoes do. It is sprayed on frozen areas and the pesticide lays dormant until the mosquitoes begin to hatch. As the eggs hatch, the pesticide begins to kill the tiny mosquitoes. Dr. Romney says this is the time where major inroads are made into in-to the mosquito population. The rest of the year is spent just trying to keep the mosquitoes in check. Jensen is referred to by many as the mosquito capital of the world. Dr. Romney said before the Mosquito Abatement Abate-ment District was started seven years ago. farmers could be seen in their fields in July wearing snowmobile suits and bee masks. Although the mosquito problem pro-blem is still bad in Jensen, it is nothing like it used to be. The reason Jensen is in such a bad location for mosquitoes is due mainly to the Green River. Dr. Romney says he is restricted as to how much he can spray on the Ouray Wildlife Refuge, and he is not allowed to work on the Indian Reservation. Reser-vation. Because of this, the Ouray area is a prime producer of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes Mos-quitoes are capable of flying up to 20 miles in a single night. Since the prevail-' prevail-' ing breezes blow upstream, millions of mosquitoes can make their way from Ouray to Jensen in one night. From there they can move to Ashley Creek to Vernal Ver-nal in another night. Even though there are not a lot of mosquitoes hatched in the .Ashley Valley, the problem is compounded compound-ed by their ability to move. This year is expected to be bad simply simp-ly because of the enormous amount of water which will come from runoff and flooding. Standing water is an open invitation in-vitation to mosquitoes. Dr. Romney says another major problem is the flood irrigation ir-rigation technique used in Uintah County. Coun-ty. In order to keep the area from becoming becom-ing a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes. mos-quitoes. Dr. Romney asks farmers to be sure all water is removed from fields within four days. Besides just being pests, mosquitoes can and do transmit equane encephalitis, commonly referred to as "sleeping sickness'' or "brain fever." Dr. Romney says this disease usually affects horses, but can also infect humans. There is no innoculation for human beings, but there is for horses. Dr. Romney said it is imperative im-perative for owners to vaccinate their horses. Prevention, he said, is much easier than cure. Colts are extremely susceptible, and special precautions should be taken. Even with warnings, encephalitis cases are found nearly every year. The last major outbreak among humans in Utah occurred in 1959. when over 100 cases were reported. Several of these cases resulted in death. As citizens of this mosquito infested area, there are things we can all do to help with the problem. Farmers especially can see that standing water does not persist after irrigation. City dwellers can see that no containers sit around which can collect rain water. One species in the Ashley Valley loves small containers of standing water. This is the species which carries equane encephalitis. Dr. Romney says that if mosquitoes cannot find a suitable place to lay eggs, they just won't do it. Dr. Romney said every mosquito we keep from reproducing reproduc-ing is important, because, he said, you must remember, one mosquito can be responsible for hundreds of offspring. For people who must be outside when mosquitoes are present Dr. Romney suggests sug-gests repellents with the substance "meta-toluamides." Although different subspecies of mosquitoes react differently different-ly to substances, this substance can provide pro-vide the best protection against mosquitoes mos-quitoes found in this area. Dr. Romney encourages people to let the Mosquito Abatement District know about spots they feel are not being sprayed. He said this is his job and people peo-ple can help him and themselves by letting let-ting him know of particularly bad locations. |
