Ouch: The Psorophora ciliata mosquito is making its presence felt in West Michigan.GRAND RAPIDS — You could call them the baddest of Michigan mosquitoes.
Psorophora ciliata is their formal name, and the large, aggressive species of biting pest is showing up across the Lower Peninsula this month following a spring and summer that has been perfect for breeding mosquitoes, experts say.
This breed of mosquito is alarming in size, but not particularly worrisome as a source of spreading diseases, said Michigan State University entomologist Michael Kaufman.
Their bite has been likened to a “stab” by some state residents.
Kaufman said this is likely to be because of the increased size of their “stinger-like” proboscis from which they suck your blood.
“Not as bad as a yellow jacket, but you know when one of ’em’s got you. It’s much worse than a regular mosquito bite,” said Ken Clark of Chelsea, who saw one bite through a pair of cotton shorts.
"It's like a hypodermic needle — the bigger it is, the more you feel it," Kaufman said. These mosquitoes, sometimes called "gallinippers," can have a half-inch long body and long hairy legs with white bands.
While they are native to Michigan, they are not common and don't show up every year. But this summer has been ideal for breeding because of recent rains following a July that was the hottest on record for West Michigan since 1936.
The big mosquitoes follow a June brood that was particularly bad because spring flooding activated larvae hiding dormant in soil areas not prone to wet conditions. Some mosquito eggs can last years before activation by water, Kaufman said.
This summer’s rampant crop of mosquitoes has kept the exterminators at Grand Rapids Pest Control busy, owner Mark Travis said. Several calls for the killing spray they employ have come in daily.
“Usually, we don’t get many calls for mosquitoes this time of year.”
At Rylee’s Ace Hardware in Walker, there hasn’t been a Psorophora-related rush, manager John Van Oss said, but bug spray has been selling well.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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