A Summary of the Regional Survey of Mosquito Control and Usage in North Carolina

Due to the decrease in governmental mosquito control programs resulting from the state government budget cuts in 2014, it was seen that many homeowners in North Carolina spent their money to control household level mosquito-related issues. Researchers Stephanie Richards, Jo Anne Balanay, Brian Byrd, Michael Reiskind and Diane Styers noted that factors affecting mosquito control [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:23+00:00April 6th, 2018|News|

Well, it has been a long while since we updated vectorecology.org.  Sometimes, personal life intervenes, and updates took a back-burner for the last 9 months.  But, time to shake off the dust.  So, I will start with this image of Culex egg rafts in a stagnant pool, part of an artificial creek.  The egg rafts are [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:23+00:00April 28th, 2017|News, Uncategorized|

End of the semester musings

It has been a while since I posted here, busy with teaching, manuscripts, life. But I have had some interesting experiences of late, and I will share them here for anyone interested. First, some trivia.  I always teach that mosquitoes don't transmit bacteria, and I maintain that this is still a true statement.  However, a [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00May 11th, 2016|News|

New study updates an 18-year-old map of tick distribution in US

  Figure taken from Eisen, RJ, et al. 2016 Illustrating the expansion of tick range since 1998 survey. A study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology reports an overall expansion of the tick’s distribution, especially in the northern regions of the United States. Although the nationwide number of cases have dramatically increased for [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00February 8th, 2016|News|

Mosquitoes in Suburbia

It is well known that certain mosquito species can be adapted to better utilize particular environments when compared to other habitat generalist species. Researchers have worked to characterize mosquito populations in wild habitats, such as woodlands, fields, and the boundaries between these habitat types, known as edges. Because of this, you can get a pretty [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00February 1st, 2016|News|

Entomologists in Space?

In the early days of space exploration we know that monkeys and dogs had been launched into space, but did you know that our six-legged friends have also made that journey into the outer reaches? According to Wikipedia and NASA’s History of Animals in Space, 18 different insects have been sent to space since 1960. [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00February 1st, 2016|News, Uncategorized|

A Zika Summary

Zika virus has recently emerged in Central and South America, causing millions of cases of fever. This mosquito-borne virus, related to dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses causes a relatively mild bout of flu-like symptoms for a week or so. One notable symptom is reddening of the eyes. In most healthy adults, or even [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00January 29th, 2016|News|

Mosquitoes in Winter

Well, we finally have winter like weather here in NC. I saw a flying, adult Aedes vexans on December 23rd, but the hard freezes over the last couple of days should eliminate those guys. Early in my academic career, I remember seeing a talk by a "freelance" mosquito control professional who provided service to New [...]

2018-11-07T21:44:24+00:00January 5th, 2016|News|