There is a new, large mosquito that could invade Florida this summer, experts say. The female galinipper (Psorophora ciliata), a very large mosquito with hairy legs, feeds day and night and is common in Florida."It's about the size of a quarter. ... It's about 20 times bigger than the sort of typical, Florida mosquito that you find," says Anthony Pelaez of the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. "And it's mean, and it goes after people, and it bites, and it hurts."
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I would not go to live in Florida; the weather and conditions that yield huge, lush vegetables, fruits, and flowers also yields huge, thick, hairy insects.
Florida isn't the only place, of course. Any tropical or sub-tropical climate is populated with insects of commensurate size. This is Nature balancing the scales.
Years ago when I was a young girl in Hawaii (where I was born and raised) a huge, thick cockroach *flew* up to me and landed on my chest. That memory has clung to me much as that roach clung to my shirt with its hairy legs. I don't want to be in a place where such large insects live and thrive.
Here in the desert that is Southern California, in the area where I live, I haven't seen any oversized critters and I thank the stars for that. Meanwhile, here is a third comparison picture of the Galinipper mosquito and the regular, common mosquito that we all dislike. They say that being bitten by the Galinipper is like being stabbed by a knife.
Have a nice day.
3 comments:
Omigod, that just totally creeps me out. I'm lucky that we don't have too many large bugs here either, but we do have wolf spiders, and they can get to be as large as an old 50 cent piece -- and that's not including the legs. I once had one that sat and watched TV with me. :-)
This is some huge flying villain, and no mistake!
When I lived in Scotland, (left to return to England five months ago) I was oft tormented by what the Scots call 'midges'. Tiny, tiny insects - but their bite is mighty!
Excellent blog. Thanks.
It seems we've had more mosquitoes here in the last few years, although just regular size ones. Mega anything wouldn't be much fun. Well, maybe winning the 'Mega Millions' lottery would be okay. ;)
Near our shore areas are biting green head flies. They aren't much fun. I don't spend a lot of time on the coast though so they aren't too much of a bother to me personally.
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