Word: nigromaculus
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...worst of the pests is the female pasture mosquito (Aëdes nigromaculus). Though it does not transmit diseases to man, the creature is a vicious stinger and travels in swarms as dense as 2,000,000 per acre in Southern California. In parts of the San Joaquin Valley, the pests are so thick at dawn and dusk-their feeding times-that people hardly dare step outdoors. Because of the insects, schools at times have been closed, farm workers have refused to tend crops, and dairy cows, stung on their udders, have produced no milk...
...compound the problem, aerial spraying used to be so effective that mosquito-control agencies permitted farmers to forgo installing drainage facilities to reduce the insect's breeding grounds. As a result, the Central Valley's heavily irrigated crop lands have become huge hatcheries for Aëdes nigromaculus. Now that insecticides are useless, farmers are being ordered to drain their fields-a costly process that may force many small operators out of business...
| 1 |