A popular look this summer may be long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks and gloves if this pesky mosquito appears in droves.
If mosquitoes were motorcycles, the species known as Psorophora ciliata would be a Harley-Davidson — big, bold, American-made and likely to be abundant in Florida this summer, according to entomologist Phil Kaufman, an University of Florida associate professor with the school's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Kaufman said that last year the state had a bumper crop of the huge insects, called gallinippers, which are known for being notoriously aggressive and having a painful bit -- and a repeat may be on the way.
The gallinipper is a floodwater mosquito with females laying eggs that
can remain dry and dormant for years until high waters cause them to hatch, Kaufman said.
And that's exactly what happened with Tropical Storm Debbie last summer.
Only the female gallinippers are blood feeders as males survive on flower nectar, according to the news release.
“The bite really hurts, I can attest to that,” Kaufman said.
Click here to learn more about gallinippers from IFAS's “Featured Creatures” website.
Photo: Gallinipper(l); Aedes albopictus / UF/IFAS
The Aedes albopictus, or Asian tiger mosquito, was found in Florida in 1986 at a tire dump site near Jacksonville and has since spread rapidly throughout the eastern states, including all of Florida's 67 counties, according to UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' Featured Creature website.