Hurricane Florence spawns large, aggressive mosquitoes

Florence floods breed large, aggressive mosquitoes

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina city dealing with fallout from Hurricane Florence has been swarmed by aggressive mosquitoes nearly three times larger than regular mosquitoes.

North Carolina State University entomology professor Michael Reiskind tells The Fayetteville Observer that Florence’s floodwater has caused eggs for mosquito species such as the Psorophora ciliata to hatch. These mosquitoes, often called ‘gallinippers,’ are known for their painful bite and often lay eggs in low-lying damp areas.

The eggs lie dormant in dry weather and hatch as adults following heavy rains. Reiskind says the state has 61 mosquito species, and “when the flood comes, we get many, many billions of them.”

He says a silver lining is the mosquitoes aren’t transmitting many diseases, but resident Robert Phillips still describes their rise as “a bad science fiction movie.”