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Asian Tiger Mosquito. ( Aedes albopictus ). Physical Characteristics. The Asian tiger mosquito is a small black and white mosquito, about 1/4-inch long. The name "tiger mosquito" comes from its white and black color pattern.
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Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus)
Physical Characteristics • The Asian tiger mosquito is a small black and white mosquito, about 1/4-inch long. • The name "tiger mosquito" comes from its white and black color pattern. • It has a white stripe running down the center of its head and back with white bands on the legs.
THE BITE • An aggressive outdoor daytime feeder • It has an extremely painful bite. • In areas where they can maintain dense populations these mosquitoes drive people indoors.
Habitat • In Southeast Asia, where it originated, the mosquito lived on forest edges in tree holes and other natural reservoirs. • However, it has adapted to human settlement and now chooses to live where there are pots, vases, buckets, and tires.
Definitions from Lifecycle • Metamorphosis: a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism • Larva: The immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis • Pupa: an insect in the non-feeding, usually immobile, transformation stage between the larva and the imago. • Imago: an adult insect.
Reproduction • Lays eggs singly above the water level on the sides of a variety of containers that serve as breeding habitat . • Relies on rainfall to raise the water level in the container and inundate the eggs for hatching. • 150-250 eggs per oviposition. • 1-4 ovipositions per female. • Breeding populations present from June- September.
Introduction to the U.S. • The tiger mosquitoes imported into the U.S. probably came from Japan. • It came from Japan by means of modern boat shipping in the 1980’s.
How Did It Survive?? A Chicago Winter • Asian Tiger Mosquitoes were able to survive cold winters. • The eggs respond to shortening of days by going into a state of dormancy called diapause. • Many other tropical mosquitoes lack this ability, which is an advantage over other mosquitoes. It can survive in the harshest of winters i.e. Chicago, IL
Ecological Impact • The same ecological characteristics that make the tiger mosquito a successful invader also make it difficult to control. • Not only can the mosquito carry many diseases, it’s also not too discerning in its feeding habits, able to suck blood from a rat at one moment and a human at the next. • As a ‘tree-hole’ breeder, it seeks small, obscure and easily overlooked places to lay its eggs. • It fits in easily to the urban environment which offers many such locations. • Additionally, a large proportion of such habitat may be on private property out of reach of public health officials.
Human Impact • The Tiger Mosquito carries ONLY primate diseases such as: • Dengue: This infectious disease is manifested by a sudden onset of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pains and rashes. • Chikungunya: Reported symptoms include fever, chills, headache, rash and severe joint pain with or without swelling. Chikungunya Disease Dengue Disease
Prevention & Control Efforts Breeding Site for Tiger Mosquito • Dump any standing water sources such as: tires and litter. • For standing water sources such as bird baths, just add vegetable oil to suffocate the larvae.
Conclusion • The Tiger Mosquito is very hard to get rid of once established. • However, since it is an aggressive day feeder no major pesticides can be sprayed, without fear of hurting humans. • So, the only way to help control this invasive insect is to make sure as many standing breeding grounds as possible are destroyed.
