y**a
发帖数: 9065 | 1 摘要：
全城肆虐。
特种蚊子，卵伏期数年，飞行距离远，怕冷。
无毒，所以政府不打算撒药。
周四以后会降温，可缓解。
目前只能继续搏斗了。
Mosquitoes swarm, but relief is on the way
A chill later in the week is expected to help
By PURVA PATEL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 11:21 p.m., Sunday, October 23, 2011
Mosquitoes are all the buzz.
The drought, a sudden rain and warm temperatures created a perfect swarm,
leaving Houstonians swatting at countless "floodwater mosquitoes,"
aggressive pests that hatched about a week after the much-celebrated Oct. 9
rains.
The city is suffering in itchy misery - bug spray is flying off the shelves,
some counties are working overtime to spray neighborhoods and families are
retreating indoors during otherwise prime fall weather.
"You just kind of see people swatting," said Alexandra Ernst, 22, a senior
at Rice University who was among those frantically swiping at the swarming
pests during brief trips outdoors this weekend. "If you weren't having the
same problem, you'd think they were just swatting the air."
Mosquitoes even infested Twitter this weekend, trending in Houston as one of
the hottest topics.
"It's like a really awful version of Hitchcock's Birds," one Houstonian
wrote Saturday.
Floodwater mosquitoes, which can lay eggs that won't hatch for years until
sated by a drink of water, are to blame for the recent surge in bites across
the city. They usually live a few weeks but can fly five to 10 miles.
"There can be an influx in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, and the
breeding site could be miles away," said Michael Merchant, an entomologist
at Texas AgriLife Extension Service. "We see these things affect entire
communities and not just houses on the edge."
While there are a few different species of floodwater mosquitoes, they tend
to be on the larger side, have a more noticeable bite, and may bite through
light clothing, he said.
Until temperatures fall, repellents, long sleeves and lots of slapping may
be the only defenses against the pests, which seem to be attacking indoors
as well.
After walking into a cloud of mosquitoes, the pests followed Sana Siddiqi,
29, into her Pearland home.
"They're everywhere," the attorney said. "I'm constantly slapping myself."
The good news: There may be some relief in sight near the end of the week.
"When we see a cool front come in, it should lessen the mosquito population,
" said Sandy Kachur, with Harris County Public Health and Environmental
Services. "In the meantime people need to take precautionary measures."
The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures to drop to the 40s
Thursday night. There's also a 30 percent chance of rain Thursday. It
usually takes temperatures in the mid-50s to see a significant drop in
mosquito activity, Kachur said.
West Nile sampling
Cooler temperatures may send the insects into hiding, but it would likely
take a hard freeze to kill them, noted Merchant.
Because floodwater mosquitoes generally don't carry diseases such as West
Nile virus, Harris County doesn't spray for them. It does spray for a second
type, so-called container mosquitoes like the Culex pipiens, which often
carry viruses. Kachur said 599 positive samples for West Nile have been
found in Harris County so far this year. The number of samples that tested
positive, however, has dropped off since the summer, she said.
The county sprays areas where diseased mosquitoes are found from Sunday
through Thursday each week. The latest report dated Oct. 19 lists 10 ZIP
codes where dead birds tested positive for West Nile.
In Galveston County, officials were working overtime to attack the problem,
according to a statement on the county's mosquito control Web page.
"The cooler temperatures put us behind schedule, but we are doing our best
to work around this," the statement read.
Staff writer Zain Shauk contributed to this report
p*********[email protected] twitter.com/purvap | m**2
发帖数: 401 | 2 太多蚊子了
【在 y**a 的大作中提到】
: 摘要：
: 全城肆虐。
: 特种蚊子，卵伏期数年，飞行距离远，怕冷。
: 无毒，所以政府不打算撒药。
: 周四以后会降温，可缓解。
: 目前只能继续搏斗了。
: Mosquitoes swarm, but relief is on the way
: A chill later in the week is expected to help
: By PURVA PATEL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
: Updated 11:21 p.m., Sunday, October 23, 2011
| y*****y
发帖数: 135 | | s*******3
发帖数: 305 | | f*y
发帖数: 956 | 5 fox news今天中午说降温的程度也许不够杀死蚊子。 | T*U
发帖数: 22634 | |
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