Humphrey Carter17/04/2015 00:00
TW
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Palma City Council yesterday presented the company which will be leading the fight against tiger mosquitoes in the municipality this year.Palma.—The Palma City Councillor for Health and Consumer Affairs, Rosa Llobera, accompanied by the director of the Son Reus Animal Protection Centre, Pedro Morell and Noe Garcia, manager of Lokimica, the company which has been contracted to fight mosquito plagues this year, yesterday presented this summer’s campaign. which began yesterday  and will continue until the end of November.
The two principal objectives are to reduce as much as possible the size of the tiger mosquito communities and also reduce their dispersion.
However, the campaign will also involve a public awareness drive about how to identify a tiger mosquito and the dangers they pose, most importantly the spread of diseases and this is also going to be done  with the cooperation of the general public who the council want to report any sightings of the tiger mosquito. The mosquito’s favourite breeding zones are stagnant pools of water, marsh land, buckets of water, fountains and large plant pots.
Lokimica’s chief biologist, Alberto Chordo, explained that unlike other common mosquitoes, the tiger likes to breed and live in small containers of water, typical to those found inside houses and they reproduce in a period of just seven days.
So, it is vital that home owners reduce the amount of pots or containers containing water and maintain  the correct levels of chlorine in swimming pools throughout the year.
What is more, the tiger mosquito can be very aggressive and their bite can cause allergic reactions.
The tiger mosquito was first detected in Majorca 2012 and since then they have spread across the island.

The tiger mosquito

Aedes albopictus (Stegomyia albopicta), from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, also known as (Asian) tiger mosquito or ‘forest mosquito’, is a mosquito native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia; however, in the past couple of decades this species has invaded many countries throughout the world through the transport of goods and increasing international travel.  It is characterised by its black and white striped legs, and small black and white striped body. This mosquito has become a significant pest in many communities because it closely associates with humans (rather than living in wetlands), and typically flies and feeds in the daytime in addition to at dusk and dawn. The insect is called a tiger mosquito because its striped appearance is similar to that of a tiger. Aedes albopictus is an epidemiologically important vector for the transmission of many viral pathogens, including the Yellow fever virus, dengue fever and Chikungunya fever,  as well as several filarial nematodes such as Dirofilaria immitis. The Asian tiger mosquito is about 2 to 10 mm length with a striking white and black pattern. The variation of the body size in adult mosquitoes depends on the density of the larval population and food supply within the breeding water.