NEVBD internship (summer 2024) with Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project

7/12/24:  This week I went to some new mosquito trapping locations to setup ovitrap cups. The cups are used to collect mosquito eggs for hatching and identification purposes. The trap is made of a wooden tray that holds the cup containing a mixture of water and stinky water (fermented hay water) as well as a curled piece of seed germination paper. I will collect the mosquito eggs after a week. I will remove the seed germination paper the mosquito eggs will cling to. Then I will take them back to the lab in order to hatch the larva for identification. I am looking for  Ohlerotatus japonicus, Oc. triseriatus  and  Aedes albopictus  since these are the species that like the ovipositional environment of a small water pool in an artificial container. Another special thing about these mosquitoes is that each species only lays one egg at a time, unlike some other species like Culex pipiens which lays 100-200 individuals in an egg raft cluster.  The ovitrap materials and a set up ovitrap near

 Work has been very good and I am having a lot of fun doing my job. I get the privilage of driving around the beautiful area of Cape Cod and collecting lots of mosquitoes. My work has been very beneficial to the public health of Massachusetts because CCMCP submits mosquitoes for disease testing each week. Still to this week in Cape Cod, there have been no reported cases of positive mosquitoes for Eastern Equine Encephalitis or West Nile Virus. Also, this past week I got to see one of the more rarely seen mosquito in my CDC light trap. This species of mosquito usual host preference is amphibians like frogs and salamaders, but somehow it ended up in my trap. It has magnificent blue and purple iridescent scales on the side of the thorax and top of the head. These are the most distinct features of the mosquito, unlike I've seen before. The species is called Uranotaenia sapphirina. The body of the mosquito has the most stunning colors that I would never have believed to could come from

  Friday June 28, 2024 I had set up buckets of stinky water to attract mosquitoes to lay their eggs the day before. Then I came back the next day and to my surprise, the buckets were full of mosquito egg rafts. I was very excited! Each egg raft contains anywhere from 100 - 400 individual mosquito eggs. Once I had collected enough egg rafts to fill the centrifuge tubes I headed back to the lab. In the controlled lab environment, I opened the caps of the tubes and allowed the mosquitoes to hatch over the weekend. When I came back to work the following week the mosquitoes had hatched into their larval stage and were ready to be shipped for pesticide resistance testing.                 A bucket full of mosquito egg rafts (200+)  I am scooping the egg rafts out of the bucket (the little black triangle is one egg raft).  A picture of me labeling the tubes for the egg raft collection. Now they are ready for pesticide resistance testing. 

A photo of me looking at mosquitoes in the microscope. When I am not out in the field setting and retrieving traps I practice my skills of mosquito identification.  The mosquito nets from the light traps and gravid traps must be frozen to kill the mosquitoes before I can view them. Once the mosquitoes are ready I utilize the Identification Guide to the Mosquitoes of Connecticut to help identify to the species level. I am starting to get faster at identifying the mosquitoes that I am given by Aubrey (the entomologist). She has been helping me along the way, so I know that I can get better at identifying adult mosquitoes.   P. S. I passed my state pesticide applicator license test! David

Sorting the insects collected and looking for the mosquitoes!  The past two weeks have been very eventful for finding and collecting mosquitoes. The mosquito trap locations that I cover are part of the Mid, Lower, and Outer regions of Cape Cod. For the people not from Cape Cod, or who have not spent considerable time here, these regions span from Barnstable to Provincetown. I am on the road every day in a green pickup truck going around Cape Cod setting up mosquito traps (gravid and light traps) and then the next day going back to collect the captured mosquitoes. Once I've collected the mosquitoes (and other flying insects) I return to the lab to freeze the samples in the deep freezer. After about an hour the sample is ready to be sorted and the mosquitoes are waiting to be identified.  P.s. the contents of this trap had a lot of other insects besides mosquitoes like moths, beetles, and nats.  David

A picture of me inspecting the contents of the light trap net.      Hello, I am David Piccirilli, a biology student at UVM, class of 2025. I took the internship opportunity with the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project (CCMCP) because I wanted to learn more about mosquitoes and vector /disease ecology. Also a bonus, I love being outside and enjoying the summertime in Cape Cod, MA. I am excited to learn about mosquito trapping techniques as well as test my knowledge of mosquito identification. Mosquitoes are a vital factor when considering human public health and ecosystem health. Mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting many diseases to birds and mammals. CCMCP is focused on the spread of Eastern Equine Encephalitis, West Nile virus, and Jamestown Canyon virus. Our organization aims to understand the species diversity of mosquitoes in Cape Cod and participate in ongoing research of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources related to mosquito disease testing.