Aedes albopictus: the Asian Tiger Mosquito
By Paul Goldfinger
In 1867, Rev. William B.Osborne, the 35-year-old son of a traveling Methodist preacher, organized the first national camp meeting at Vineland, NJ. It was there that he decided to search for a location to establish a permanent camp meeting along the Jersey shore. He had certain criteria: according to Richard Brewer’s booklet (1969) called Perspectives on Ocean Grove, Rev. Osborne was “seeking a high place by the sea that included both a grove of trees and the absence of the infamous Jersey mosquito; he finally chose Ocean Grove.”
If the Reverend were to come back today, 144 years later, he would find no groves of trees and a mosquito problem of worrisome proportions. In 1995, the invasion of the Asian tiger mosquito began in the US. This voracious bug may have come here via tires that had been sent to Asia for retreading. In the last five years, the problem has emerged in this part of the Jersey shore, including Belmar, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove. According to the Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission, the situation is getting worse. We spoke to Victoria Thompson, Assistant Superintendent of the Commission, who said, “This is the challenge of our agency.”
Unlike other mosquitoes that feed from dusk to dawn (thus providing a window of opportunity for extermination), this species is active 24/7. They are prodigious breeders and they can go from egg to active bug within 5 days. They can breed anywhere there is still water, even in a candy wrapper with a tiny amount of H2O. Ms. Thompson told us that if you come to the shore for the weekend and you allow some water to remain in a bird bath, a flower pot or a garbage pail lid, by the time you return the next weekend, thousands of mosquitoes will have hatched. Her literature says that “a single planter bottom can produce over 250,000 fresh bugs!” A single child’s toy lying around in the yard can produce, depending on size, up to 1 million mosquitoes in a summer. You have to repeatedly search your property to get rid of water that might accumulate.
According to a press release from the Commission, this mosquito is “not only a serious nuisance but poses significant public health risks.” The Commission is working with other agencies, including the US Department of Agriculture, to “develop an action plan” to control this problem. Thank goodness we have a mosquito control agency in Monmouth County with the word “extermination” in its name. Hopefully this critter will make the endangered species list soon.
Editor’s note: We have tried the natural repellent sold by Shangri-La Farms at the Saturday Asbury Farmer’s Market, and it seems to work.
Below is a video on the subject, the Commission’s web address and a press release from the MC Mosquito Extermination Commission.
Mosquito Commission Press Release