An Asian tiger mosquito is certainly not large. Photo: ANP / Remko de Waal
Ah, there it is again: the tiger mosquito. Every year the mosquito turns up in the Netherlands, far away from the tropics where it flew around for so long. Do we want that tiger mosquito here? Preferably not, because the animal spreads viruses, including dengue fever. Nine questions and answers.
No, ‘in the past’ you didn’t read news headlines about the tiger mosquito. Simply because the animal was tropical and absolutely did not occur in the Netherlands. Nowadays it happens every summer, even with Metro. ‘Asian tiger mosquito is back’, ‘don’t sit outside anymore?’ and ‘how dangerous is the tiger mosquito?’ were previously headlines on this website.
Tiger mosquito appears in several neighborhoods
Also the NOS headlined again today: ‘Tiger Mosquito is popping up in more and more neighborhoods‘ it read. Social media (X) responded to this, often predictable in this day and age: ‘Panic!’, for example, could be read. And: ‘Is it because of global warming?’ Or Kees: “Wondering what the NOS on the scare agenda for the rest of the year. A day without a fear message is a day wasted.” But what about that tiger mosquito?
Questions and answers about the tiger mosquito
When did the tiger mosquito come to the Netherlands?
As far as scientists can tell, the Asian tiger mosquito had never been in the Netherlands until 2005. In the summer of that year, the animal ‘established itself as an exotic’ in our cold frog country. Whether that will be permanent… cannot be said. The tiger mosquito originates from Southeast Asia, but nowadays also lives in warmer European countries such as Spain and France.
What exactly is today’s news?
That the advance of the tiger mosquito in the Netherlands seems to continue. The insect has already been observed this year in twelve places, according to the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). It concerns four residential areas and eight other places, such as tire companies.
How do you recognize our not so welcome ‘friend’?
The tiger mosquito is a lot smaller than the native mosquito and can be recognized by a white stripe on the back and white hind legs.
Who in our country is involved with the exotic?
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) is investigating the presence of viruses in both mosquitoes and Dutch people who have been stung. The said NVWA keeps track of where the tiger mosquito is located (the government agency has a reporting point) and is responsible for combating it.
Below you can see an explanation video from the NVWA from a few years ago (the information has survived):
Click here if the video is not shown
How did that tiger mosquito get to us?
Simple: with holidaymakers. Another important travel method, you already read the word tire companies: the tiger mosquito likes to hitch a ride in a wet car tire. In November this was denounced politically by the platform Stop invasive exotics. The platform has been fighting for years against, among other things, the Asian tiger mosquito and asks the Ministry of Health to take action against ‘wet tire companies’. If those wet tires cross the border with us, they should in any case be properly checked.
What does the rest of the summer look like?
The tiger mosquito is therefore present again. “But,” the NVWA sees, “most people still have to come back from vacation,” according to the NVWA. Where there were still two in 2020 and four in 2021, there were already eight where the tiger mosquito was found last year. That was separate from other places. The increase was already linked to the increase in holiday and freight and transport traffic after corona. The growth of tiger mosquito populations in holiday countries such as Italy, France, Spain and (southern) Germany would also play a role.
Don’t be scared right away
Is the tiger mosquito dangerous?
Dangerous is a bit of a strong word, but the animal can transmit annoying tropical diseases such as dengue fever. In a rare proportion of cases, this is life-threatening, but don’t be put off. The RIVM: “The chance that tiger mosquitoes that have now been found in the Netherlands carry these diseases is negligibly small.”
Will the critters go away too?
The mosquito season pretty much ends in October, but eggs from this mosquito can also survive a winter and then hatch. Last winter, the tiger mosquito turned out to have been left behind in a strawberry greenhouse in Rijnsburg. Last autumn, 772 tiger mosquitoes were found in Rijnsburg, the highest number ever in one place in the Netherlands, according to Stop invasive exotics.
If you see a tiger mosquito, what can you do?
The NVWA asks people to report sightings of mosquitoes in order to combat the animals as quickly as possible. The mosquito “does not lay its eggs in nature, but likes to rest against a hard edge, such as flower pots and the like. They also find containers with water very suitable.”
Oh yes, another fact for those who fear the night: our uninvited guest mainly stings during the day.
Rain lovers are in for a wonderful weekend: ‘Regional with buckets’
Did you see a mistake? Mail us. We are grateful.
2023-08-04 11:43:54
#questions #answers #tiger #mosquito #likes #hitch #ride #wet #car #tire
