Rachel Hewey, St. Lawrence County Dept. of Health

 My first few weeks of this internship started off at a slow pace since we had a lot of trouble getting some crucial materials for the mosquito traps. I just finished my third week, and we finally caught some mosquitoes! Two light traps were set out on Tuesday, left to run all night, and we went back on Wednesday to retrieve what we caught. We spent the rest of the week trying to identify each species in our catch. This was a bit of a challenge since I have never worked with mosquitoes before and the characteristics were tough to see at times. However, I think I have gotten the hang of using the dichotomous key and identifying the species. 

Attached is a picture of the light trap. The mosquitoes are attracted to the light and the dry ice coming out of the blue container. Then, the fan below the light sucks the mosquitoes into the mesh catch container and keeps them contained by blowing air downwards.


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