The Hoosier state could see an uptick in mosquito and tick reproduction this year as winter provided mild temperatures and the early onset of rain the spring season brought the area.
A Purdue University entomology professor says if Indiana’s mild weather continues the state could see more mosquitoes and ticks this year.
Mosquitoes are not only an annoyance, but in some areas, can be quite deadly. More deaths are associated with mosquitoes than any other animal on the planet as they are carriers of a number of serious diseases such as malaria. Indiana residents do not have to worry about this particular disease however cases of West Nile virus have been linked with these small, slender, long-legged flies in the Hoosier state.
Purdue’s Catherine Hill highlighted that mild winter temperatures combined with a warm and wet early spring could mean early and prolific mosquitoes and ticks. She says that’s barring any dramatic change in the upcoming weather forecast.
National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew White says above average temperatures but below average precipitation is on tap in the state for the next few months. Temperatures are forecast to reach 70 on Friday.
Hill says entomologists think the insects may “appear a week or two earlier than they have in other years.”
Early spring rains establish mosquito breeding grounds and ticks emerge earlier during warm, wet springs.
Public health officials say the mild weather Indiana residents enjoyed last winter is coming back to bite them by spurring an increase in tick and mosquito populations in parts of the state.
The Vanderburgh County Health Department says the southwestern Indiana county is seeing more ticks and mosquitoes this spring than in past years.
People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes,” says Jerry Butler, PhD, professor at the University of Florida.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that mosquitoes prey on people with higher overall levels of cholesterol,but that these people simply may be more efficient at processing cholesterol, the byproducts of which remain on the skin’s surface.
Mosquitoes also target people who produce excess amounts of certain acids, such as uric acid, explains entomologist John Edman, PhD, spokesman for the Entomological Society of America.
So the short answer is yes. Mosquitoes do exhibit blood-sucking preferences, with One in 10 people who are highly attractive to mosquitoes.
