Mosquitos! The aedes aegypti or Asian tiger has always been around in Florida which is why they say Florida has to be vigilant about the Zika virus spreading here. These mosquitos prefer fresh water over our salty mangrove areas that surround Marco Island.
We are also often plagued by salt marsh mosquitos in the summer months, especially if the winds are blowing in the right direction to carry them from the mangrove islands to the populated areas. We are seeing this in a big way this year due to large populations of these mosquitos.
When we have a lot of rain, the water levels in some of these natural areas can rise enough to allow fish into the areas where they breed. These fish feed on the mosquito larva thus lowering the population when outbreaks do occur. While this helps to reduce the number of salt marsh mosquitos, it is up to us to help reduce the population of freshwater mosquitos…