Researchers in Texas are predicting that Hurricane Alex will bring more than just rain and flooding: it will also bring more mosquitoes.
Scientists at the Texas AgriLife Extension Service distinguish between “floodwater” mosquitoes, which appear a week or so after a flood, and “standing-water” mosquitoes, which appear a few weeks later. The latter are the most dangerous, they say, because the species that thrive in the stagnant water left behind by the floods are the ones responsible for spreading diseases like West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis.
The Extension Service offers advice on dealing with mosquitoes, as well as an online “Mosquito Safari” with information on different types of mosquitoes, their lifecycles, and how to control them. It’s important for stormwater managers to know which types are a public health threat and which are mainly a nuisance, as well as the conditions in which mosquitoes are most likely to thrive. Stormwater ponds and structures are often seen as breeding grounds; in fact, according to an article to be published in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, in many urban areas stormwater infrastructure may be the single greatest source of mosquitoes.
Two of the authors of that article, Justin E. Harbison and Marco E. Metzger, also have an article coming up in the September issue of Stormwater on how stormwater management programs can more effectively work with public health organizations to identify possible mosquito breeding sites.
In the meantime, here are some other mosquito-related articles from past issues—a good introduction to how mosquitoes spread disease, and a discussion of whether oil on the surface of standing water, as is often found in places that collect urban runoff, actually deters mosquitoes.