Climate change could mean more mosquitoes across the world, VCU study says - WRIC ABC 8News

Climate change could mean more mosquitoes across the world, VCU study says | WRIC ABC 8News

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — In addition to catastrophic environmental effects, climate change may soon bring the world an increase in everyone’s most hated flying, biting pest.

A recent study led by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) researchers has found that there could be more mosquitos in the future as warmer temperatures accelerate larvae’s development time and render predators less effective.

According to the study, the shortened development time for mosquito larvae will create a smaller window for dragonflies to be able to eat them and control the population.

“This means there could be nearly twice as many mosquito larvae that make it to adulthood in the study area,” a VCU spokesperson said. “The researchers looked at riverine rock pools at Belle Isle along the James River in Richmond and found that warmer temperature pools had more aquatic mosquito larvae, even when their predators that naturally control the populations were present.”

The species of mosquito that was studied is not “an important disease vector,” however, it is one of the few local species that doesn’t have to feed to lay eggs. Because of this, the findings of the study may apply to other species that do act as vectors for diseases like West Nile or Zika virus, according to researchers.

The full study can be read in ‘Ecology,’ a journal published by the Ecological Society of America.