NMCAW: Mosquito Inspectors Julia Line and Tom Ovre
June 24, 2020
How MMCD Tests Mosquitoes for West Nile Virus
July 1, 2020
It's National Mosquito Control Awareness Week! MMCD will be highlighting the various people that protect the public from disease and annoyance caused by mosquitoes, ticks, and black flies. Stay tuned to our website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates throughout the week!
In order to fulfill our mission of protecting the public from disease and annoyance caused by mosquitoes in an environmentally-friendly manner, we prioritize good data collections and use science to drive our decision making. Our lab in St. Paul makes this possible where MMCD entomologists are joined by a small crew of seasonal lab inspectors who identify insects, communicate with field crews, and collect a lot of data that helps our program run. For our last entry for National Mosquito Control Awareness Week we meet two seasonal lab inspectors.
MMCD Lab Inspector Koudai Sugii
Koudai Sugii, Lab Inspector
What is your background and how long have you been with MMCD?
I've been with mosquito control for 4 years. I majored in field biology and was looking for this kind of work and I got my foot in the door with MMCD. I also help my parents on our family farm.
What are you working on today?
I'm identifying suco samples. (EDITOR'S NOTE: "Suco" is short for "sucomatic" the term we give to large metal aspirators that collect adult mosquitoes.) We go through each mosquito and identify whether or not it is a vector species like Culex, which can carry West Nile virus, or Aedes triseriatus which can carry La Crosse encephalitis.
What are some of your favorite things about working at MMCD?
If you like bugs, there's always something interesting to find. I was just learning about the species Uranotaenia sapphirina, and it was recently discovered that they might feed on leeches and worms. It's super interesting. I love finding out about how our world is so weird.
What is something that you think the public needs to know about mosquito control?
A lot of people don't realize that there is a big difference between pest species that annoy people and vector species that can carry disease. Sometimes people wonder why were doing treatment in some areas where the mosquitoes don't seem that bad and it's probably because that's a place where we find lots of vector species and we're trying to protect people from potential diseases.
MMCD Lab Inspector Cassie Bowen
Cassie Bowen, Lab Inspector
What is your background and how long have you been at MMCD?
During most of the year I teach special education in St. Paul and in the summer I work at MMCD. I've been with MMCD for five years.
What are you working on today?
I am looking at samples from emergence cages, which are the traps we set out at cattail sites to collect the mosquitoes when they emerge from the water.
What do you like about working at MMCD?
There is always something different. Whether we are looking at larvae or adults and all the different types of traps and collections, there is something new all the time. I love the variety.
What is something that the public should know about mosquito control?
That there are a lot of vector species found where people don't always expect. The state fairgrounds for instance are a place where we often find vectors and we try to stay on top of them. Controlling disease is one of our main functions, so we really prioritize those type of sites.
Stay tuned for a new highlight person each day this week to celebrate National Mosquito Control Awareness Week! Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for mosquito control tips and news!
