Mosquito Safari! Texas AgriLife Extension Entomologist Educates Public About Mosquitoes With Interactive Web Site
by Rob Williams
Urban entomologists Dr. Mike Merchant and Morgan Kohut inspect a drainage canal and wooded area in southern Dallas for standing water and shade where mosquitoes can breed and flourish. (Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo by Mike Jackson)
The heat and sun are not the only things that are familiar with summer in Texas. Some Texans will be experiencing another summer pastime--battling mosquitoes in their yards.
Texas AgriLife Extension entomologist Mike Merchant at the Urban Solutions Center in Dallas has created a web site called Mosquito Safari, mosquitosafari.tamu.edu. The site is an entertaining alternative to the text-heavy sites on the Web already that have little to no interactivity or visual aids. Mosquito Safari is sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Dallas County Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- Region 6 Pesticides Division.
Created last August to educate the public about mosquitoes and control and biology, Mosquito Safari is unique from other mosquito web sites with its interactive "virtual backyard." Visitors can explore the "yard" to find the most common breeding sites that may be around their homes.
When the visitor clicks on a 'hot spot', a narrator explains the selected area and how to reduce the chances of mosquitoes breeding in that site. Mosquito Safari also features an interactive application explaining mosquito biology and common control methods for homes and businesses.
Merchant notes that floodwater mosquitoes are the most problematic around the home. Floodwater mosquitoes move easily from their breeding sites. These mosquitoes breed in standing water near creeks and rivers after flooding in residential areas. Homeowners should use a good insect repellant, for example a product containing DEET, when venturing outdoors.
Professor and Extension Urban Entomologist Dr. Mike Merchant demonstrating an application of mosquito repellent for outdoor use.
"Floodwater mosquitoes are really strong fliers, so you can live far from a creek and still be affected by them," Merchant said. "They're there all the time and they're going to come out after any big rain. They can fly up to five to 10 miles from their breeding sites and affect people who don't even live close to water. This affects everyone in the metroplex or in any community." The good news, however, is that floodwater mosquitoes don't tend to carry diseases that affect people, Merchant said.
Container-breeding mosquitoes, on the other hand, can carry important diseases such as West Nile virus, he said. But people can do a lot to control them.
Container-breeding mosquitoes breed in anything that can catch and hold water along with organic matter like leaf or lawn debris, he said. Soft drink cans, open grills, watering cans, clogged gutters, wheel barrows and puddles are all potential breeding sites. Generally, breeding can be prevented by dumping water and clearing debris.
"To find these pests, you really do need to go out on safari in your backyard, which is the origin of the Web site's name," Merchant said. "The goal of a mosquito safari is to search out and eliminate places where disease-carrying mosquitoes breed."