Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District

Next month we'll begin trapping for adult mosquitoes in a few locations to see where our early season mosquitoes are. We use two main traps, one is a carbon dioxide (CO2) trap that lures in mosquitoes with CO2, & the other is a gravid trap that attracts mosquitoes with smelly hay infused water.

DYK that mosquito-borne diseases affect more than just us? West Nile virus (WNV) can affect birds and horses. There are vaccines for horses to help protect them against WNV and western equine encephalitis virus. Take preventive measures and get your equines protected against mosquitoes! 🐴🦟

Summer training internship applications with RaHP VEC are open! 🦟 We encourage current undergraduate (2- or 4- year institutions) and Master’s students to apply.

👉Visit rahpvec.us/training/int....

👉Other materials needed to apply: a current CV/resume and unofficial transcript.

#summerinternship

Today is World Wildlife Day! Did you know that mosquitoes can affect wildlife too? Swipe through for some mosquito facts and examples.

#worldwildlifeday

This week is National Invasive Species Awareness Week. There are many invasive species out there, ranging from plants to insects, including mosquitoes!

#nationalinvasivespeciesawarenessweek #mosquitoes

This week we congratulated & celebrated our Assistant Director, Dr. Greg White, who will be leaving SLCMAD soon to start a new position as manager of the Mosquito Abatement District-Davis. We will miss you & wish you the best! It won't be the same without you! ✨🦟

Our most recent newsletter went out last week! Find it in the link in our bio, and sign up to receive them in our Linktree! 🦟

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

Roses are red, violets are blue, here comes a mosquito, and it's looking for you. 🦟💖

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! 🦟🦟🦟

#internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience #womeninstem #womeninscience

Did you know that after a blood meal, female mosquitoes go through something called diuresis? This is when they release excess fluid, like water, right after ingestion.

Do you see the small pink-red dots on the paper towel beneath the mosquitoes? That's exactly what's happening here! 🦟

SLCMAD is hiring for multiple positions for the summer: seasonal employees, interns, and summer drone pilots!
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Get field, lab, public health, and research experience!
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Find the application on our website at www.slcmadutah.gov/employment.html or the link in our bio.

It’s that time of year again! SLCMAD is hiring for multiple positions for the summer: seasonal employees, interns, and summer drone pilots!

If you're interested in vector-borne diseases, entomology, biology, public health, and other related fields check it out!

✨Link to the app in our bio✨

Last week we had visits from @saltlakecc.bsky.social Professor Laura Harris' environmental science students! We spent the entire time touring the district and discussing our operations, integrated mosquito management, and career options. Thanks for visiting us! 🦟

Look out for the newest SLCMAD newsletter, the first of 2026! Find it at the link in our bio.

Check out this photo from before the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District was formed in 1924. People had to cover up head to toe in order to avoid mosquitoes in Salt Lake City - you can see these folks wearing headnets to avoid them! 🦟

'Sloth fever' unlikely to spread via mosquitoes in southeastern US, say researchers In 2024, "sloth fever" hit the news cycle as a new public health threat: The virus was found in people who'd recently traveled to Cuba, and the serious health risks associated with the disease prompted concern about whether it could spread and become established in the U.S.

Oropouche virus, known as "sloth fever," is unlikely to spread via common southeastern U.S. mosquitoes, reducing the risk of local transmission despite recent travel-related cases.

Mosquitoes have four stages of their life cycle! They start as an egg, then larva, pupa, and adult. The first three stages need water to grow and develop to an adult!

DYK caribou are affected by mosquitoes, too! They can lose ~4.4 lbs of blood to mosquitoes each year! Caribou avoid mosquitoes by traveling to snowy, icy, or more windy areas. All this running to avoid mosquitoes creates a lack of proper food & nutrients, & can lead to health & population declines.

Check out the latest SLCMAD newsletter! It's the last one of 2025, but don't worry we'll have more in 2026. Check out the full issue in the link in our bio ✨

a scarlet honeycreeper on a tree

Meet a local from Hawai‘i! The Scarlet Honeycreeper, also known as the ʻIʻiwi.

Its long curved beak fits inside the native flowers. But no its range is very limited.

Because they can’t survive malaria, and when mosquitoes were introduced, their range shrank!
#birds #birding #nature #animals

This scientist is breeding billions of mosquitoes to fight disease in Brazil Luciano Moreira is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025.

At the heart of the effort to breed millions of mosquitoes, aiming to fight mosquito-borne illnesses in Brazil, is Luciano Moreira

He is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025
go.nature.com/3KV9zAM

Last week we were at Taylorsville Elementary for a STEM Night. So many good questions from students and parents alike! Thanks for having us!
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Earlier this week, Dr. Ary Faraji spoke at the 3i Vector-borne Diseases Networking Event at the @utah.edu. This was a chance for speakers from different departments and organizations to share the current work they are doing and how they can work together in the future.

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows

"My advice to other undergraduates: Just go for it!" — Lalitha Ravipati, alum, Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Rising junior or senior who's interested in working alongside some of the nation's top scientists this summer? Apply now: bit.ly/CechFellows 🧪

Do you wonder what jobs are out there in mosquito control? There are so many positions behind the scenes that work together to provide helpful information for mosquito management decisions. Here are a few examples! Stay tuned as we share more.

It may be the first of December, but winter is the perfect time to go through your old photos. Join our iNaturalist project page "Mosquitoes of Utah" to follow along, upload your mosquito photos, & help ID submissions! iNaturalist is free to join, head to iNaturalist.org to create your account! 🦟

SLCMAD went to @rowlandhall1867.bsky.social Middle School to speak to their 7th graders! The students presented insect traps they've been working on for different pest species followed by Dr. Rehbein presenting on invasive mosquitoes & their impacts on people & animals. Thanks for having us there!🦟

Thank you so much to Dr. Emmanuel Santa-Martinez's @saltlakecc.bsky.social Environmental Science class for visiting us and learning! You all are the best visitors!

#mosquitoes #stemstudents #publichealth #environmentalscience

While we aren’t sure if mosquito larvae have bad hair days, we do know they have little hairs all over their bodies. Do you know what purpose these hairs serve?