The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Heat, thunderstorms: mosquito attacks will increase

2021-06-22T15:24:38.077Z


Mosquito season is well and truly open. With the hot and humid weather of the past few days, they should proliferate more.


Clémence, 38, still suffers, two days later, from very unpleasant itching. “I literally had my legs eaten by a horde of mosquitoes, laments this employee in the catering of Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine). I don't know what's going on right now but I have the impression that we are being invaded. "Their development is greatly facilitated by a weather factor," explains Professor Anna-Bella Failloux, entomologist at the Institut Pasteur. High temperatures and humidity, with regular rains, favor their reproduction. The storms of recent days will therefore not help matters. "We must expect an upsurge of mosquitoes within 7 to 10 days," continues the specialist, when the newly laid eggs will have hatched. "

Read also Devilish bug, Japanese chafer ... and if you participate in the hunt for invasive species?

If their presence is already so massive, is it related to the proliferation, even more surprising in our eyes, that we have noticed throughout the winter in the Paris region?

"

Classic

mosquitoes can

hardly tolerate the cold," replies Anna-Bella Failloux.

They hibernate and do not reproduce in winter.

On the other hand, there is an underground species that takes advantage of the mild and constant temperatures of the metro, for example, in addition to small reservoirs of water that are created here and there, in the corridors or on the tracks, to subsist.

This is the reason why urbanites have the impression that mosquitoes are no longer only active in summer.

"

"We will have to learn to live with it and change our lifestyles"

While there are some 3,500 species of mosquitoes around the world, only 15% feed on human blood. And only females, who find there the nutrients necessary for the development of their 50 to 200 larvae per litter. Among the 70 species present in France, the tiger mosquito is the most worrying since it can transmit malaria, dengue or even chikungunya. Recognizable by its black and white stripes, it was detected for the first time in 2014 in the South-East but is now present in more than sixty departments. "He has a fairly exceptional ability to adapt to all environments," says Anna-Bella Failloux. It should, in the years to come, develop throughout the territory.Unfortunately, nothing can be done to limit this progression and we will have to learn to live with it and change our lifestyles. "

To avoid the proliferation of mosquitoes, tigers or others, it is recommended to eliminate any source of stagnant water in your home. “What the mosquito is looking for is not clean water that it has nothing to do with, but dirty water from which it draws, as in the blood, the nutrients it needs, underlines the entomologist. To avoid being invaded, you must therefore regularly change the water in the vases and empty the water that remains in the sub-pots when you water your plants. Another tip: decorate your home with plants with repellent properties such as mint, lemongrass, geraniums or lemon thyme. Their ability to ward off mosquitoes, however, remains limited outdoors.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2021-06-22

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.