TIME.CO, Jakarta – The dry season is often thought of as a time when mosquitoes tend to decline due to a lack of standing water which can become breeding ground for them. Many people think that the rainy season will produce more mosquitoes. However, the fact is when the dry seasonmosquitoes are more aggressive and bloodthirsty.
Why do more mosquitoes appear during the dry season?
The dry season can have a complex impact on mosquito populations and their activities. Reporting from yaleclimateconnections.org, Joshua Benoit of the University of Cincinnati explained that dry weather can cause mosquitoes to experience dehydrationwhich in turn prompts them to have a blood meal more often.
When mosquitoes are dehydrated, they tend to bite humans more often to quench their thirst. This dehydrating effect can occur quickly, even within five to six hours.
“When they’re dehydrated, they actually suck blood more frequently. The effects of this dehydration can come on very quickly, sometimes within five to six hours,” Benoit said. Yale Climate Connections.
On the other hand, based on scientific journal articles Trends in parasitology titled “Spotlight Dry but alive: how mosquitoes survive 8 months”, more mosquitoes appear during the dry season for different reasons.
One of them is because during the dry season, water becomes less and limited, so mosquitoes look for available places to breed.
Additionally, mosquitoes may also survive longer during the dry season due to warmer temperatures and drier environmental conditions.
Risk of disease transmission from mosquitoes
As the climate warms and rainfall changes, the risk of mosquito-borne diseases may increase. One of the viruses that often attacks during the dry season is the West Nile Virus. Therefore, it is important to protect yourself from mosquito bites, even in dry weather.
While the dry season may seem less hospitable to mosquitoes due to a lack of standing water, in reality changes in mosquito behavior and the impact of climate on their ecosystems can cause mosquito populations to remain active and become more disruptive during this season.
The aggressiveness of mosquitoes when they suck blood and fatigue mosquito the search for water to survive are two important factors that require attention. Therefore, despite the dry season, we must not be negligent in protecting ourselves from mosquito bites and take adequate preventive measures.
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