From East County Magazine
June 1, 2018
June 1, 2018 (La Mesa) — San Diego County residents now have one more reason to find and dump out standing water in and around their homes to fight mosquitoes.
County environmental health officials have found a new type of invasive, aggressive, day-biting mosquito in La Mesa — the Australian backyard mosquito, Aedes notoscriptus, also known as the “Aussie Mozzie.”
County officials said they believe the mosquito is more nuisance than human health risk. However, it is aggressive and prefers to live and breed near people; in yards and even inside homes.
“One of the best things you can do to protect yourself from mosquitoes is to get rid of all standing water so they can’t lay eggs and breed near you,” said Chris Conlan, a supervising vector ecologist with the County’s Vector Control Program. “That means dumping water out of the saucers under flowerpots and toys laying in the yard. These mosquitoes are called the ‘backyard mosquito’ for a reason.”
County Vector Control found three adult female Australian backyard mosquitoes last week in a trap they placed in La Mesa in response to a complaint about mosquito bites. The mosquito had previously been found in Los Angeles about three years ago.