What's the buzz? Super skeeters on the way

March 16, 2013|By Robert Nolin and Arelis R. Hernandez, Sun Sentinel

The rainy season is poised to drench South Florida — and possibly unleash a horde of bloodsucking monster mosquitos.

These super skeeters are the size of a quarter, or 20 times larger than your garden variety mosquito. If rains are heavy, a scientist warns, they could be plaguing your patio this summer.

They're called gallinippers. "Old timers say they'll nip a gallon of blood from you," said Gary Goode, environmental analyst with Palm Beach County's Mosquito Control Division.

University of Florida entomologist Paul Kaufman, in a burst of imaginative language rare for a scientist, described them thus: "If mosquitos were motorcycles, the species known as Psorophora ciliata would be Harley-Davidsons — big, bold, American-made and likely to be abundant in Florida this summer."

Kaufman said the species is aggressive and can leave its mark on exposed skin. "The bite really hurts, I can attest to that," he said.

The bugs have always been around, but their eggs, laid in soil, can remain dormant for years. Deposited at the edges of ponds and streams, the eggs are revived when heavy rains cause those bodies of water to overflow. That's what happened last year when Tropical Storm Debby caused severe flooding across North Florida — and produced legions of gallinippers.

"When we hit the rainy season, we may see that again," Kaufman said.

The bugs, the largest biting mosquito in the U.S., have hairy, zebra-striped legs. As babies, they will eat other larvae, even tadpoles.

The good news: The bugs don't swarm too much in South Florida.

"They are a species that we've always controlled for, but we don't see an abundance of them," said Joe Marhefka, manager for Broward County Mosquito Control.

Gallinippers typically don't carry disease, and they live for but a week. "A lot of other mosquitos are more severe nuisance mosquitos," Goode said.

Only females bite — males flit from flower to flower sipping nectar. Unlike normal sneaky skeeters, they are clumsy flyers who betray their presence before they can suck your blood.

"These gals, since they're all females, are so big they really give themselves away on our bare skin," Goode said. "Most of the time they don't get away with biting humans."

Marhefka said the species operates outside Broward's population centers. "In our county, we find it out west, and only when a front comes through and blows them in from the Everglades," he said.

"We're just monitoring right now," he added. "If we see where a brood or a population gets high, then we'll step up our spraying."

rnolin@tribune.com or 954-356-4525

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