Air Pollution And Cramped Living Breeding Super Mosquitoes In Athens

illustration only

by Staff Writers
Athens (AFP) Jul 04, 2006
Cramped housing conditions and air pollution in Athens have given rise to a "super breed" of mosquito that is larger, faster and more adept at locating human prey, a Greek daily reported on Tuesday.

Athens-based mosquitoes can detect humans at a distance of 25-30 metres (yards) and also distinguish colours, unlike their colour-blind counterparts elsewhere in the country that only smell blood at 15-20 metres, Ta Nea daily reported.

The "super mosquitoes" of the Greek capital also beat their wings up to 500 times a second -- compared to 350 beats for other variations -- and are larger by 0.3 microgrammes on average, the paper said, citing a study conducted by Aristotelio University in the northern city of Salonika.

According to the study, the mosquitoes of Athens have adapted to deal with air pollution and insect repellents, and overpopulation in the Greek capital of over four million has provided them with a healthy food supply.

"Mosquitoes can lay their eggs even inside the trays placed beneath thousands of balcony flowerpots," Athens University professor of zoology Anastassios Legakis told the daily.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
- Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

FROTH AND BUBBLE

German Tourists Burned While Hunting For Amber

Riga (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Two German tourists suffered burns on a Latvian beach after picking up pieces of phosphorus that they thought were amber, hospital officials said Friday. "A German burned his fingers with phosphorus, while a woman got burns on her thigh on Thursday," on Bernati beach, close to the southwestern port town of Liepaja, said Indra Grase, a spokeswoman for Liepaja central hospital.

ENERGY TECH Increased Flow Of Groundwater After Earthquakes Suggests Oil Extraction Apps Environmental Fury Over US Bill To Expand Oil And Gas Drilling First Global Lighting Study Is Released Germany Now Has Two Energy Plans	CIVIL NUCLEAR Anti-Nuclear Protesters Disrupt Putin Speech At NGOs Meeting US Congress Panels OK India Nuke Deal Russia Plans Atomic Energy Expansion Second US Congressional Panel Backs US-India Nuclear Deal
BLUE SKY California's Model Skies ESA Picks SSTL To Develop Atmospheric CO2 Detector Faster Atmospheric Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles Atmospheric Warming Expanding The Tropics	WOOD PILE World Bank Vows To Improve Forestry Program In Cambodia Tropical Forest CO2 Emissions Tied To Nutrient Increases Chechen Environment In Danger Say WWF And Russian Officials Midsummer Fest Bonfires Banned In Estonian Forests
FARM NEWS Reducing The Global Need For Nitrogen Fertilizers Food-Crop Yields In Future Greenhouse-Gas Conditions Lower Than Expected Millions Hungry Despite Good Harvests In Southern Africa Scientists To Track Fish Stocks With Underwater Arrays And Satellites	CAR TECH World Car Sales To Slow In West But Leap In China And India During 2006 Back Middle Car Seat Maybe Un-Cool But It Is The Safest Car Seat Mobile Phones Provide Another Reason To Hate SUVs Self-Powered Sensors To Watch Over Hydrogen Cars
AEROSPACE Innovative Solutions Make Transportation Systems Safer Secure and Efficient Joint Strike Fighter Is Not Flawed Finds Australian Government Globemaster Airdrops Falcon Small Launch Vehicle Terma Selected To Manufacture Key Components Of F-35 JSF	NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement