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Rohan Mittal

BIO 111L
18 November 2014
Article Critique
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Diana Lutz
October 27, 2014
Hot on the trial of the Asian tiger mosquito
Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141027144858.htm

In 1985 the Asian tiger mosquito was first spotted in Houston, however it can now be seen
in Maine. In order to properly observe the spread of the Asian tiger mosquito scientists turned to
new discipline of landscape genetics. The conclusion was that the hitched a ride on the
highway. They came to this conclusion by studying the correlation of the genetic pattern with the
landscape. Only one of the few studies was able to detect the landscape genetics, which was also
the first one to detect hitchhiking. In order to accurately sample the Asian tiger mosquito the
scientists collected larvae from abandoned flower vases in cemeteries both on the edge and
within the middle of the mosquitoes in the U.S. However, the focus was more on what happened
at the edge. This is because the mosquitoes lay their eggs in tree holes, which are often found at
the edges of forests. The expectation was that the forests at the northern edge of the mosquitoes
area to act as natural corridors for dispersal. However, as it turns out the forests were not
corridors and were in fact barriers. A theory as to why this was the reason is because the
mosquitoes were not able to displace the native tree hole mosquito. Understanding a mosquitos
dispersal is important because the mosquitos genes go where the mosquito itself goes.
According to Medley, Human-aided gene flow between mosquito populations can give a
species the smorgasbord of genetic options it needs to rapidly adapt to novel conditions
(Medley). The Asian tiger mosquito is now the dominant mosquito in the state of Florida.
Medley says, local mosquitoes have begun to vector chickungunya and Ae. albopictus is a likely
suspect. (Medley). The question now is what should we do about this giant outbreak in the
Asian tiger mosquito. Medley suggests that we should alert mosquito control efforts. Medley
puts particular emphasis at the range edge where sub populations blink in and out and the
population is fragmented. She said, If we eliminate a local population but leave dispersal routes
open, we're just going to have re-introductions (Medely). She also said that a large problem is

human aided evolution. If human-aided dispersal is stopped then it is possible to contain the
mosquitos and specifically the diseases they carry.
This article contains many merits that give the article validity. Evidence is profound in this
article. The evidence provided is the results of many scientific studies concerning the Asian tiger
mosquito. One example is the study presented in the online edition of Molecular Ecology.
Another merit of this article is the source behind it. This article is based on the works of Kim
Medley, David Jenkins, and Eric Hoffman. The three of them are of Washington University in St.
Luis meaning that they are professionals in their respective fields.
I learned a great amount from this article. For starters I had no idea what the Asian tiger
mosquito was prior to reading this article. In fact I did not even know that there was an Asian
tiger mosquito. I also learned why studying even the most obscure things in science can provide
great amounts of knowledge. Originally I asked the question as to why scientists are studying a
mosquito. Considering all the possible things to study why study a mosquito? However, I now
know about the dangers that the mosquito has. The mosquito carries many diseases that can
easily affect humans. Also, the mosquitos do not exist in California and I learned as to why they
are being contained so they will not come to California later on. I also learned the dangerous
affects that humans can have when they interfere with nature. According to Medley human
interference is a cause of the massive population boom of the Asian tiger mosquito and a boom
in the diseases that the mosquitos carry. There are times when humans should interfere with
nature and times when humans should not. This notion even exists in pop culture. In the movie
Godzilla Ken Watanabe says, The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in their control and not
the other way around.

Three questions I had were the following:


1. Is there anything humans can do in order to contain the population boom of the
mosquitos?
2. Was this population boom affected by climate change?
3. How high of a priority should we put this? Should we sacrifice research funding for
other scientific issues and pour more funding into the research of the Asian tiger
mosquito?

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