As soon as the first rays of the sun settle on our beautiful city, no sooner do you look forward to the first warm evenings on the balcony than there! Klosterneuburg groans from Gilsen, not only since today – forever! But rarely has that been the case with the speed with which vampires have attacked us this year. Why is this and how can you face it?
Ecologist Bernhard Seidel has been researching and developing mosquitoes for several decades, of which there are about 40 different species in Austria. In Klosterneuburg, above all, summer evenings are ruined by flood flies for us. Comes with the flood and a few days ago there was enough of it again. Nationwide rainfall and light flooding without frost – these are the conditions in which mosquitoes breed very well. “If we do notice it in an unpleasant way, it can become severe in the fall. Only a dry summer can cure that,” Seidl teaches.
You have to picture it this way: 95 percent of mosquitoes never come to lay their eggs. But the remaining five percent is enough to hold the stock. Bernard Seidel, ecologist
“These creatures put all their energy into their population,” says the ecologist, explaining the massive presence of mosquitoes. “You have to picture it like this: 95 percent of mosquitoes never come to lay their eggs. But the remaining five percent is enough to keep stocks.”
What is so dangerous about unpopular vampires? Seidel asserts: “Nothing at all, they’re just annoying, and they can only become dangerous if they transmit diseases. But they can do that too. If a female carries a virus, she can transmit the virus. A female has billions of offspring.”
But basically there will be no dangerous mosquitoes. It is much more human than that who moves and settles into the mosquito habitat. The Gilsen problem is man-made so it is with the spread of tiger mosquitoes in Austria. They are a nuisance because they are also active during the day and do not come over us at dusk. East Asian mosquitoes are more survivable than native mosquitoes. Because of the fast trade, he’ll come to us and be there quicker when it gets warm.
According to Seidel, this has little or nothing to do with climate. Humans themselves will provide the niches that mosquitoes choose. Seidel: There are many factors that favor mosquitoes. For example, flood protection systems must be built in the future so that water accumulation is avoided.”
Alternatively, in some areas – not in Klosterneuburg – the poison is released by helicopter, which ecologist Seidel does not believe in at all: “I can kill 90 percent of mosquitoes with it, but the remaining ten percent is enough for mosquitoes to continue breeding.”
What can we do? “The mosquito represents one of the highest stages of development. It must put an end to it and finally listen to people who know their stuff. The improvement of the environment can only happen through nature. Therefore it is necessary to think about how to move forward intelligently, ”concludes the ecologist Bernard Seidel.
