Mega mosquitoes arrive in Central Florida

Clickorlando.com ^ | June 7, 2013 | staff

[driftdiver]

Gallinippers, which are 20 times the size of a typical mosquito and pack a painful bite, have been spotted in Seminole County, according to officials.

Entomologists at the University of Florida predicted earlier this year that the mega mosquitoes, about the size of a quarter, would invade the Sunshine State in 2013, a year after being spotted in Florida following drenching rains from Tropical Storm Debbie.

Kelly Deutsch, the director of Seminole County Mosquito Control, said gallinippers, officially known as psorophora ciliate, are treated the same as any other species. Deutsch said recent rains, including the dousing from Tropical Storm Andrea earlier this week, will likely cause a spike in all mosquitoes.

[P.O.E.]

The ones in Jersey I heard had a ratchety sound, the ones here in PA have more of a UFO-like quality. Who knew?

[Pontiac]

I hope that they don’t move any further north.

Mosquitoes consider me a rare delicacy and I don’t want to be a delicatessen for those monsters.

[driftdiver]

They seem to fly fairly slow and have a pretty loud buzz, so they probably cant sneak up on you.

[Paradox]

I dont know if it was one of these, but I found an insect biting my leg, it was so big I thought at first it was a wasp, but it was this huge mosquito. Seen a few of those down here (SW Florida).

[rktman]

No longer in Brevard county. We left right after the “cleansing” at KSC after Atlantis landed+30 days. Gone 3 weeks later. Moved to where there ain’t too many skeeters. With a handle like “NonValueAdded” it sounds like we might have worked together at one time. PC training required for everybody etc. LOL! Sure as hell don’t miss that. So, sorry. Guess I don’t need to be on the ping list. I do check in with some buddies in Brevard occasionally.

[Ditter]

I suspect that all the lighting bugs were caught by kids who then smeared them on their shirts and ran around in the dark. That’s what we used to do. :)

[TaMoDee]

There’re DRONES! There’s a little tag on them that says:
“If found send back to NSA.”

[BobL]

“According to Kaufman, gallinippers aren’t known to carry any viruses that could be harmful to humans.”

That’s a bummer. Here in Houston the mosquitoes were really bad. But then they started carrying West Nile - which can be very nasty. So our cities and counties HAD TO SPRAY, and now the mosquitoes are just about gone.

Hopefully these beasts pick up some so they can start spraying with SERIOUS CHEMICALS rather than the placebos they used to use here (prior to West Nile).

[Hardastarboard]

"How big are the mosquitoes in Florida?"

"Big enough to stand flat footed and sh!t in a dump truck"

"How big are the mosquitoes in Florida?"

"Big enough to stand flat footed and screw a turkey."

[jmacusa]

Or who would cram a zillion of ‘em into a mayonnaise jar. (like me). There always seemed to me to be something forlorn about the poor things... flashing their little butts looking for a date. Seriously though, I haven't seen one here in southern NJ for years.

[Black Agnes]

My yard’s full of them. Fear not, they’re still around.

[jmacusa]

Where yonder might that be, in general, Madame?

[Black Agnes]

Deep rural south.

We don’t spray anything so we have gazillion of them. And lots of those loud little tree frogs too.

[Ditter]

Yes lightning bugs are gone and it’s our fault! :)

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Amazingly enough, I have not seen them in Maryland so far.

[afraidfortherepublic]

You’d better wear armor when you go out of photographic safaris!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

If it weren’t for the environ-MENTALists, y’all could probably use DDT down there!

[Uncle Lonny]

I thought those were Asian Tiger Mosquitoes who were introduced into Florida along with Fire Ants a while back. The Gallinipper is a large blind mosquito like bug that doesnt bite.

The Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are easy to kil though. They are so aggressive that they will land on you immediately and any where and you can smack them as soon as they land. The smaller ones will hover and are harder to swat and they know to get on your back where you cant swat them.

[CrazyIvan]

That's not a Mississippi river mosquito, he can lift it with one hand.

I was walking along the bank one evening and two of them jumped me and pinned me to the ground. One turned to the other and ask if they were going to eat me there or take me back to the swamp. The other one said that if they took me to the swamp the big ones might take me away from them.

[SamAdams76]

Unfortunately the lightning bugs need wooded areas to thrive. When I was growing up, you could find them in most of the leafy suburbs. However, as our suburbs are now becoming more like cities, you need to get further out to see them.

I still get them in my neighborhood but I'm surrounded by trees and there are still plenty of woodlands nearby. I am starting to see them already and they peak late June/early July.

Out in the country however, they are still plentiful as always.