Week of June 23

 Week of June 24th – Mosquito Trapping in the Heat

This week marked one of the hottest stretches of the summer so far, and it had a noticeable impact on our mosquito surveillance efforts. With temperatures soaring during the day and barely dropping at night, both the mosquito populations and our fieldwork routine were affected.

Mosquito Trapping and the Heat Wave

Normally, our traps yield a decent number of adult mosquitoes, but this week the counts were much lower than usual. We suspect the extreme heat is playing a major role, mosquitoes tend to be less active during high temperatures, and in some cases, they seek cooler, shaded areas that may be out of our trap range. It also didn’t help that we've had a stretch of dry weather with little to no rainfall.

Because of this, most of the usual larval habitats such as standing bodies of water like puddles, ditches, and temporary containers have since dried up. When we went larval dipping at several known hot spots earlier this week, we found barely anything. It was a big change from previous weeks, where those same spots had plenty of larvae to sample. The heat and lack of water really cut down the potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes, at least temporarily.

Community Garden Outreach

One of the highlights of this week was our continued community outreach in Philadelphia. We visited several community gardens throughout the city to talk to residents about mosquito prevention. One of our main focuses was on rain barrels. These can be a great tool for water conservation, but if left uncovered, they can become perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

We brought mesh coverings and showed residents how to properly secure them over the tops of rain barrels to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs inside. Everyone was receptive and grateful for the info, and it felt great to help people take small steps that make a big impact on public health.


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