Week 3

Gravid Traps

This week we learned how to set gravid traps. These traps have a collection cup positioned above a plastic basin filled with something we call "Mosquito Soup"—a mix of hay and water that’s been sitting outside for a few days (and yeah, it smells exactly as bad as you’d expect)! Female mosquitoes are attracted to the soup to lay their eggs. Then, a fan creates negative suction, pulling the mosquitoes up into the collection cup. We often find mosquitoes carrying diseases in these traps because they usually come from ones that have already had a blood meal. Since mosquitoes pick up diseases from the mammals they bite for blood, those in the trap are more likely to be infected.

Gravid trap set up in Sturbridge.

Watch out: perturbans on the rise

This week, we caught a lot of Coquillettidia perturbans. For context, compared to this time last year, we caught 900% more perturbans. Perturbans transmit EEE, and because we are catching so many of them, we expect it to be a big year for EEE.

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Weeks 1 and 2

My day to save for the summer: CDC Traps For the past two weeks, my main job has been setting up and taking down CDC traps. These traps look a little bit like miniature flying saucers, but instead of aliens coming down from them, mosquitoes are going into them! CMMCP mainly uses CO2 CDC traps, which release carbon dioxide from a tank we connect to the top of the trap. Mosquito antennae detect carbon dioxide, and this ability is used by the mosquitos to find sources of blood, so they are attracted to the CO2 emitted by our traps. Some CDC traps use light to attract the mosquitos, but we use the CO2 traps to reduce the number of junk bugs (the bugs that get caught in the trap that aren't mosquitos). Once a mosquito flies close to the trap, a fan pushes them down into a collection cup where they cannot escape. The next day, I return to the trap to collect the sample and disassemble the trap. My truck, packed and ready to set up CDC CO2 traps. CDC CO2 trap Once I ge...

Week 9

West Nile Virus Positives This week, we had three West Nile Virus positive pools this week: in Blackstone, Natick, and Worcester. Blackstone and Natick are in my route, so I trapped the positive mosquitoes in those towns. It's a little scary knowing I was so close to mosquitoes with WNV. This positive case has also brought new meaning to my job as a trapper. I'm glad I was part of the team that caught these WNV cases and were able to help out the public. I think these positives will peak public curiosity and worry about mosquitoes, so I think I will have a lot more people come up and ask my questions. So, I'll make sure to brush up on my knowledge of WNV so that I can educate them and hopefully minimize their risk of contracting a vector-borne disease. Golden Anopheles Last week we found many mosquitoes uncommon to central Massachusetts in our traps. On Thursday, Audrey and I were processing mosquitoes when she noticed a very large, golden bug in her trap. We didn't k...

Weeks 7 and 8

Continuing to Trap and ID Over the past two weeks, I've continued to go out in the field and collect mosquitoes using CDC CO2 traps and gravid traps. No mosquitoes in our towns have tested positive for any diseases yet, which is good! But, Norfolk County had its first case of West Nile and Plymouth County had its first case of EEE last week, so we expect a positive soon. The number of perturbans we caught has decreased dramatically compared to the last couple weeks. As the CDC traps become less full, the gravid traps are getting fuller. I'm getting more familiar with distinguishing Culex mosquitoes and will continue to practice this over the rest of the internship. First of the Trainee Summer Seminar Series! Dr. Beard: Future Vector-Borne Disease Workforce On Friday, I attended Dr. Ben Beard's insightful presentation on the future trajectory of vector-borne diseases (VBDs). Dr. Beard emphasized the profound impact of climate change on VBDs, highlighting how shifts in clim...

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