Monster Mosquitoes Invade Florida

I, for one, welcome our new mosquito overlords. Meet the monster mosquito Psorophora ciliata or gallinippers, which weigh 20 times the size of a typical mosquito and seems even more aggressive.

According to the TV station, the quarter-sized insects were first spotted in Seminole County late last week. The aggressive blood suckers “can bite right through your clothing and give you a good pinch, more painful than an ordinary mosquito bite,” University of Florida natural resources agent Ken Gioeli told West Palm Beach-based WPTV back in March.
University of Florida entomologists warned in March that psorophora ciliata — or gallinippers as they’re sometimes called — might appear this summer, weighing in at up to 20 times the size of a typical mosquito and even more aggressive. The catalyst? Heavy rains from Tropical Storms Debbie and Andrea, which probably hatched the monster mosquito eggs that can lay dormant for years. As the university quipped in March: “If mosquitos were motorcycles, this species would be a Harley Davidson — big, bold, American-made and likely to be abundant in Florida this summer.”

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