News - University of Arkansas
Are Old Tires New Mosquito Condos? Join the GLOBE Mission Mosquito “Spare Tire Blitz” (March-June 2022)
Spare Tire Blitz
Join the GLOBE Mission Mosquito “Spare Tire Blitz,” which is taking place from March through June 2022. Participants will document mosquito tire habitat by submitting a photo using The GLOBE Program’s app, GLOBE Observer (GO), Mosquito Habitat Mapper (MHM) tool, and will follow up with the GO Land Cover tool to provide photos of tire location.
In a recent blog, Dr. Russanne Low (Science Lead for the GO MHM and senior scientist with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Arlington, Virginia, USA) and Dan Killingsworth (Director of Operations for EnSec Pest Control in Pensacola, Florida, USA) discussed the Spare Tire Blitz, “Did you know that used tires are a prime habitat for mosquitoes? It’s as if they have a welcome mat out for mosquito moms that say, ‘This is a great place to lay your eggs.’ Tires make perfect insect ‘condos,’ so if you ever see a pile of tires in a yard or business, take a peek inside the tires – you might just locate multiple mosquito ‘nurseries’ with wiggling larvae, living in the water that pools inside tires after rain.”
“Scientists are now studying the mosquito larvae breeding sites found in old tires and hope you will use the Mosquito Habitat Mapper and Land Cover tools within The GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer app to contribute to this vital research. And remember, after you make your observations, dump out any pools of water whenever possible!”
To read the full blog, and find out more about the blitz, click here.
Webinar
The GLOBE Mission Mosquito (GMM) professional development webinar, “Around the World Spare Tire Blitz” will be held on Thursday, 21 April, at 02:00 p.m. ET (06:00 p.m. UTC).
The GMM team will share stories of the Spare Tire Challenge from the GLOBE community. Finding discarded tires and photographing the water they collect may reveal a mosquito incubator. Photos can be submitted until 14 April (please send to: cassie_soeffing@strategies.org).
To register for the webinar, click here.
To learn more about GMM, click here.
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office