Worried Zurich citizens rush to report tiger mosquitoes (and other insects)
Not an Asian tiger mosquito
Keystone
Zurich authorities have been contacted by many concerned citizens since the news on Tuesday that Asian tiger mosquitoes had been found in the Wollishofen area of the city. So far all the reports have been fake alarms.
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Keystone-SDA/ts
Local residents were invited to an information session and were reassured that there was currently no reason to be concerned about the presence of this insect.
Nevertheless, the city authorities are asking for residents’ help in the fight against the tiger mosquitoes, which can carry harmful diseases like the Zika virus. Anyone who spots one (see picture below) is encouraged to either capture or photograph it for submission to the Environmental and Health Protection Department.
In the past two days the number of reports of potentially dangerous insects has multiplied. At the moment there are about five times more than usual, the advice centre for pest prevention told the Keystone/SDA news agency.
However, what are thought to be tiger mosquitoes have always turned out to be other species. Several pictures of Asian bush mosquitoes have been sent in, which do look similar to tiger mosquitoes but have only three white rings on their hind legs, not five.
“We also got sent a picture of a wasp,” said Gabi Müller, head of the specialist unit. “But that doesn’t matter – we’re happy for the assistance and cooperation.”
Flight range
Tiger mosquito eggs had already been discovered three years ago near Zurich station in buses coming from abroad. The specimens found in the Wollishofen district survived the winter, the city authorities said on Tuesday.
In Switzerland, tiger mosquitoes had also been spotted in Graubünden in the east, Ticino in the south and Basel in the north. In Europe, they have had a strong presence in Italy since the early 1990s. They have also been found in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The tiger mosquito, which originated in Southeast Asia, has a flight range of less than 200 metres and experts believe the worldwide transport of used tyres, probably from China, is to blame for its spread.
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Authorities said it was too soon to say whether they were dealing with an isolated mosquito that had been carried into the canton or one from a local population. But the Federal Health Office added that there were no indications that the tiger mosquitoes found in canton Aargau were transmitters of infections such as dengue…
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