Transcript:

Urban MosquitosAmbience: City SoundscapeWe tend to think of mosquitos as being a rural pest, but increasingly were seeing mosquitos in cities as well. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.La Deau: We all hear about mosquitoes in Miami and Florida, but what a lot of people don't know is that they are moving north, and a particular invasive mosquito that was introduced to the US in the 1980s has been establishing in urban areas further north, including New York City.Shannon La Deau is a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She says in urban areas, you and I become prime targets for mosquitos.La Deau: Generally we think about mosquitoes being near swamps or in forests where you have vernal pools. And of course that is an important habitat for the native mosquitoes. but there are urban specialists, if you will, that have adapted to breeding in small plastic container habitat that only has to stay wet for a week at a time.And so in the forest you may get bit by a mosquito, but the mosquitoes that develop out in the forest aren't generally looking for humans. They bite you 'cause you're there, but they're more often biting small mammals that live in the forest.In the urban areas, the mosquito species that establish and do well in urban areas, have to bite and get their blood meals from animals that are most populous in urban areas/ Obviously that is humans. They can be a bigger problem when we're concerned with transmitting diseases to humans.The Tiger mosquito is one of the invasive mosquitoes that we're seeing spread northward across the US right now. That was introduced in the 80's and and has had slow but now increasingly fast population growth. The Tiger mosquito can transmit diseases like the West Nile Virus. Well hear what can we can do to control urban mosquitos in our next program. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.