Asian Tiger Mosquitoes in Long Island

Asian Tiger Mosquitoes

The Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are settling in and taking a bite on Long Island, literally.

While the numbers Islandwide are small compared to other types, such as the northern house mosquito, the presence of the Asian tiger increased more than 220 percent in female mosquito samples collected and tested from 2010 to 2012 in Nassau and Suffolk counties, based on figures from both county health departments.

The Asian tiger mosquito represented 7.74 percent of all mosquitoes collected in Nassau County for testing in 2010, according to the county’s health department. That is nearly doubled the 14.12 percent of 2012.

Lets take a look at a map showing the possible locations of the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes in America.

While primarily mammal feeders, a small percentage of the Asian tiger females do feed on birds, he said, meaning they can be carriers of West Nile virus. Only female mosquitoes bite and suck blood; hence they, not males, are the disease transmitters, Campbell said.

First spotted in Texas in the 1980s, the Asian tigers likely arrived in the country in scrap tire shipments from Asia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Named tigers because of their black and white stripes, they were initially spotted on Long Island 10 years ago. According to Mary Ellen Laurain, spokeswoman for the Nassau County Department of Health, the Asian tiger was first identified in the county through routine surveillance activities in 2003. In Suffolk, the first showed up in a mosquito trap put out by the county in 2004, Campbell said. They have been moving and have now spread into Brookhaven Town, with a few spotted on the South Fork, he said.

While some Asian tiger samples have indicated the presence of West Nile Virus, that doesn’t necessarily mean the species is “good at transmitting it,” said Bryon Backenson, director of the New York State Department of Health’s vector surveillance unit.