American Mosquito Control Association Research Articles

Lessons on malaria vector control from Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy, and Sleepy.

Despite significant advancements in vector control, malaria continues to expand and claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually. A 1943 animated film by Walt Disney remains a poignant reminder of the ongoing challenge and a good example of interventions that have fallen off the pages of history. It underscores two key points. First, the importance of proactive mosquito control measures and the need for comprehensive strategies targeting mosquitoes at every stage of their life cycle. Second, collaboration between all stakeholders and sustained investment are vital for success in malaria control. Manuel Llu-beras is a public health entomologist renowned globally for assembling the business architecture of mosquito population management initiatives in four continents. He crafted the first WHO Operational Manual for Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) and played a pivotal role in designing the structure of the IRS campaign of the US President's Malaria Initiative and several mineral extraction companies. He served in several post-event emergency mosquito control operations. Prior to establishing Mosquito Den LLC in 2021, he was Executive Director for Public Health for H.D. Hudson Manufacturing from 1996 through 2022. He served as medical entomologist for the US Navy a dozen years. His contributions to public health entomology were recognised with the Global Trade Award from the Global Trade Chamber, the Meritorious Service Award of the American Mosquito Control Association, and two nominations for the Rear Admiral Charles S. Stevenson Award for excellence in US Navy Preventive Medicine.

AMCA Memorial Lecture Honoring Lewis T. Nielsen, PhD

The 2021 AMCA Memorial Lecture honors Lewis T. Nielsen, Ph.D., 1920–2014 on the centennial of his birth. Dr. Nielsen was born August 6, 1920, in Salt Lake City, UT. Other than the four years he served in the US Army during World War II, Nielsen lived his entire life in Salt Lake City. He was the eldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother. His father, Knute Lester Nielsen, was injured during World War I, and Nielsen credited his father's disability pension for supporting the family during the Great Depression and allowing “Lew” to pursue his education rather than having to work to support the family.Nielsen's lifelong love for the study of mosquito biology and systematics evolved serendipitously. After failing a junior high school algebra class, he was kept after school writing equations on a blackboard. At about this time a teacher by the name of Archibald took an interest in him and urged him to think seriously about his future and to continue his education. It was at this early age that Nielsen began developing an interest in natural history. While earning a nearly straight-A average in high school, he took botany and zoology, which further fueled his interest in natural history.Following high school graduation at the age of 17, he entered the University of Utah in the fall of 1937, which began a lifelong association with the “U.” While working his way through college, he was assigned a position in the Zoology Department pinning mosquitoes for Don Rees. That led to a summer job at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement and ultimately his life's work with mosquitoes. His three degrees in biology included a B.S. (1941), M.A. (1947) “On the Biology of Aedes dorsalis,” and Ph.D. (1955) “The Taxonomy, Biology and Control of the Rocky Mountain Aedes Mosquito Species.” The intervals between degrees included a tour of duty in the US Army, 1942–1946, and the difficult task of teaching introductory biology classes as an instructor at the university while working on his doctorate. In 1956, Nielsen was promoted to Associate Professor and taught Entomology, Medical Entomology, Insect Morphology, Insect Sociality, Mosquito Systematics, and a general education course he developed called Insects and Man. In 1965, he became the Director of General Biology and was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1966. During his academic career, Nielsen had 29 students that received their Master of Science degrees and 10 students that received their doctorates. He published 82 scientific publications and was the lead author on 41 of those publications. At retirement in 1989, after 43 years teaching and research at the University of Utah, he received the honor of being named Professor Emeritus of Biology.Nielsen played a major role in local mosquito research and control. No one knew more about the biology and taxonomy of Utah mosquitoes. His favorite mosquitoes were the snowmelt mosquitoes of the higher mountainous elevations. He twice served as the President of the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association (UMAA) (1958 and 1990) and was awarded the UMAA Don M. Rees Award in 1988 and the Meritorious Service Award in 2005. For more than 40 years, he organized the association's annual spring training workshop. From the inception of the UMAA in 1948 until his death, he never missed an Annual Meeting of the UMAA.Nielsen had a very close relationship with the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). He served as the AMCA President (1977) and received the Medal of Honor Award (1988), was made an Honorary Member (1994), and was awarded the John Belkin Award (2000). He was the Editor for AMCA's Mosquito Systematics publication from 1979 to 1992, Coeditor 1992–1993, and Editor Emeritus 1993–1995. In 1997, Nielsen gave the Memorial Lecture entitled “In Honor of Stanley Carpenter.”Lew's love for the outdoors continued unabated into his nineties including hunting and fishing trips with life-long friends who shared his appreciation for the beauty of nature.

Robert (Bob) John Novak June 5, 1947 to August 4, 2022

Dr. Robert Novak (“Dr. Bob”), our dear friend and colleague, passed away on August 4, 2022, at the age of 75, in Tampa, Florida. Much can be said about his academic credentials and accomplishments from his long career. He was a respected professor with multiple appointments in several academic departments of medicine, microbiology, and public health. He served as a consultant and advisor for numerous national and international organizations, including the EPA, WHO, Chinese Academy of Sciences, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Illinois Governor's Office and Pollution Control Board, Vector Control Division of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health of the US Virgin Islands, US Agency for International Development in Honduras, US Army Medical Virology Institute in Fort Detrick, Maryland, Pan American Health Organization Aedes aegypti biology and control, and Pueblo (Colorado) Board of Water Works. Bob was a world-renowned medical entomologist with his research focused on mosquito biology and control. He was also a member of many professional organizations among which the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) and the Society for Vector Ecology (SOVE) stood so dear to him that he seldom missed their annual meetings. For his service and dedication, Bob received several AMCA awards: Presidential Citation (1993), Memorial Lecture Award (1998), and Medal of Honor (2003), while he served as the AMCA President in 1996–1997. He also served as SOVE President in 2007 and received the society's Distinguished Service Award in 2013. While his many notable accomplishments and contributions can be addressed by others, to me and many others, he was known as Dr. Bob, or simply Bob. We all know how much he loved Colorado, second only to how much he loved his wife, Lorraine. His stories about his upbringing on a cattle ranch and how that influenced his decision to enter the field of public health are legendary. The funny thing is that he loved animals but found the connection between them and the bugs that fed on them to be fascinating. This happens to the vast majority of those of us working in medical and livestock entomology, so we all accepted his comments as par for the course, never odd.Bob was a great man. It's been said that you can gauge a person's greatness according to their degree of commitment, and this was certainly true of Bob. A person like Bob is great because he speaks directly to you and lives according to what he says, and when he treats you with affection and respect. A person is great when he does not think about only himself, when he behaves in a kind way, when he provides support, or when he supports others when they most need him. Bob always demonstrated what is most important between two people: friendship, companionship, affection, and respect. Bob was a giant. He was always interested in your life and looked for opportunities for your personal and professional growth, encouraging his students and colleagues to dream and explore areas outside the conventional box. This was especially true when it meant doing things everyone else thought were so farfetched and impossible, such as his project with the satellite imagery for mosquito surveillance and control.Bob never allowed himself to be governed by clichéd behaviors and cared little for how he looked in front of others. He abhorred being manipulated or handling people like a puppeteer. He dealt with most disappointments with grace and deference and shared his opinions clearly and with certainty. Bob was blunt and direct, but he always tried to understand the perspectives of others even when he didn't see things the same way they did. We all have at least one instance when his bluntness was clearly manifested, to be washed off later with a beer. He always placed himself in your position and judged you on what he expected from himself under that circumstance. In his personal life, Bob enjoyed fine and exotic dining. Very seldom can one witness a person enjoy the pleasure of a new dish the way he enjoyed fried crickets and sautéed scorpions at a roadside diner in Cambodia or a bowl of mystery porridge served in a crusty bowl as he did at a gourmet dinner in Eritrea close to the border with Sudan.Bob was a consummate field entomologist who could not be judged through centimeters, meters, or wealth. He was defined by his actions, honesty, and decency, and will be remembered as kind and respectful of the feelings and interests of others.Dr. Bob was a great man whose memory and joy for living will remain vibrant in the hearts of many. For his sensitivity and how he treated others, Dr. Bob was a giant.

2021 AMCA Presidential Address.

2021 AMCA Presidential Address.

American Mosquito Control Association Interim Board of Directors Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah-November 12, 2020.

American Mosquito Control Association Interim Board of Directors Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah-November 12, 2020.

American Mosquito Control Association Board of Directors Meeting via online platform-March 20, 2020.

American Mosquito Control Association Board of Directors Meeting via online platform-March 20, 2020.

Amendments to the Bylaws of the American Mosquito Control Association February 5, 2021

Amendments to the Bylaws of the American Mosquito Control Association February 5, 2021

William E. Walton 1956–2020

William E. Walton 1956–2020

Daniel A. Strickman 1953–2020

The field of Medical Entomology has lost a valued entomologist, contributor, colleague, and friend. I have personally lost a close friend with whom I have spent years with discussing pressing challenges in mosquito biology and control. I first met Dan when we both were graduate students with Professor William R. Horsfall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dan earned his MS in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1978. We both worked on floodwater mosquitoes. Dan and I used to jokingly argue about who processed more dirt from Allerton Park on the Sangamon River floodplain looking for eggs and oviposition sites. We both learned operational mosquito control as entomologists for the Macon Mosquito Abatement District in Decatur, IL. Dan was a quiet man with a unique sense of humor coupled with an outstanding logic for problem solving. He was naturally inquisitive and definitely not dogmatic. He was open and loved to discuss well thought out mosquito and vector control challenges, especially when based on data, observation, or documented information.Dr. Strickman was interested in insects and arthropods at an early age and began his pursuit towards his future professional career as a biologist/entomologist at Dartmouth College and received his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California-Riverside in 1974.During his career, Dr. Strickman worked in a broad scope of professional responsibilities including medical entomology, operational pest and vector control, research, and management. His career spanned areas from a field researcher to administrative positions in the US military as Chief of Department of Entomology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the US Department of Agriculture where he held the position of National Program Leader for Veterinary Medical and Urban Entomology and the Acting Director of Overseas Biological Control Laboratories. Although his dominant research focused on mosquitoes, he also worked and contributed knowledge from his studies of tabanids, chiggers, and rodents. His expertise on the parasites and insect vectors causing rickettsia, malaria, and dengue were also key areas and research challenges that intrigued him. His contributions made a significant impact to our knowledge of these vectors regarding both their biology and control. He authored 115 peer-reviewed articles, 16 book chapters, and four books. During his career, an example of his valued expertise is illustrated in the breadth of positions he held, beginning with the US State Department (Peace Corps), the US military (22 years in the Air Force and Army), mosquito abatement (Santa Clara County, CA), the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (National Program Leader for Veterinary, Medical, and Urban Entomology and Director of Overseas Laboratories), and finally the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Senior Program Officer, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases). Even in retirement Dan drove to his entomological roots by volunteering his expertise to the Burke Museum of Natural History at the University of Washington, working to curate and examine the museum's collection of fossil insects.During his career, he spent 10 years in countries outside of the USA, including in Latin America, Southwest Asia, East Asia, and Europe. His awards reflect his quality and contributions, including the US military's Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, the US EPA Bronze Medal, the Presidential GreenGov award, the American Mosquito Control Association's John Belkin Award, and the Society for Vector Ecology's Lifetime Achievement Award. Dan was instrumental in supporting the Society of Vector Ecology's annual student competition as our Gates Foundation representative. Dan served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association for 13 years.His most recent book is Mosquitoes of the World, to appear in print in 2020 (D. Strickman, R.C. Wilkerson, and Y.-M. Linton, Johns Hopkins University Press). This final work by Dan will be published posthumously. A tribute for a true medical entomologist, a vector control specialist and biologist. He will be missed by many. We have lost a dedicated scholar, colleague, and friend of the American Mosquito Control Association.

MOSQUITO CONTROL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE TO NATURAL DISASTERS.

On February 9, 2019, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed into law and appropriated $200M in hurricane funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for preparation, response, recovery, mitigation, and other expenses related to the consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The CDC then awarded, through CDC-RFA-TP18-1802 Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response notice of funding opportunity, $51,136,347 in extramural funding. Funding specific to vector-borne diseases, including intramural and extramural (partners and jurisdictions), was $37,628,235 to Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands. State and territorial funding supported the implementation of conventional and novel mosquito control techniques, training for public health pest control applicators, replacement of mosquito surveillance and control supplies utilized in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes, insecticide resistance testing and training, and source reduction. Additionally, the CDC hurricane funding supported this special issue of the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association (JAMCA) focused on mosquito control response in the wake of natural disasters. We invited hurricane relief funding grantees, mosquito control programs, academics, manufacturers, product distributors, and applicators to submit response plans or descriptive articles related to their experience with mosquito control after natural disasters. The objective of this special issue of JAMCA is to provide a comprehensive volume that includes resources to help guide mosquito control in areas affected by natural disasters. The shared experiences should serve to assist others involved in mosquito control in planning for and responding to natural disasters.

2018 Highlights of Mosquito and Vector Biology and Control in Latin America.

The 28th Annual Latin American Symposium presented by the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) was held as part of the 84th Annual Meeting of the AMCA held in Kansas City, MO, in February 2018. The Latin American Symposium promotes the participation of vector control specialists, public health workers, and academic members from Latin America and the sharing of scientific data between continents. Generally, presentations are in Spanish with simultaneous translation into English. The majority of presentation slides are in English to facilitate communication among all meeting attendees. This publication includes summaries of 14 oral presentations by participants from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States of America. Topics addressed in the 3 sessions of the symposium included: larval habitats, insecticide resistance, new Aedes mosquito traps, blood meal analysis and fitness outcomes, vertical transmission of dengue, and transstadial composition of midgut microbiota. Control techniques discussed included sterile insect technique (SIT) with radiation, SIT by Wolbachia, thermal fogging, ultra-low volume pesticide applications, indoor residual spraying, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis de Barjac (Bti), and Spinosad larval treatments. Presentations were also given on species composition and diversity of phlebotomine sand flies. Presentations were related to the vector species belonging to the mosquito genera, Anopheles, Aedes, and Culex as well as phlebotomine sand flies involved in the transmission of the causal agents of malaria, arboviruses (dengue, chikungunya, Zika), and leishmaniasis.

Mosquito Vector Biology and Control in Latin America-A 27th Symposium.

The 27th Annual Latin American Symposium presented by the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) was held as part of the 83rd Annual Meeting of the AMCA in San Diego, CA, in February 2017. The Latin American Symposia promote the participation of vector control specialists, public health workers, and academicians from Latin America and the sharing of data between continents. Generally, presentations are in Spanish and simultaneously translated in English, although the majority of PowerPoint slides are in English so all meeting attendees can understand the content. This publication includes summaries of 23 oral presentations by participants from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the USA. Topics addressed in the symposium included surveillance, operations and response thresholds/planning, mosquito ecology, insecticide resistance, and population control via chemicals, natural products, and biological control. Sterile insect technique protocols were explored regarding larval rearing diets and the use of microRNAs. Presentations were related to vectors including Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes, which can transmit malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, and Lutzomyia phlebotomine sand flies, the key vectors of leishmaniasis.

Mosquito Vector Biology and Control In Latin America-A 26th Symposium.

The 26th Annual Latin American Symposium presented by the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) was held as part of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the AMCA in Savannah, GA, in February 2016. The principal objective, as for the previous 25 symposia, was to promote participation in the AMCA by vector control specialists, public health workers, and academicians from Latin America. This publication includes summaries of 19 presentations that were given orally in Spanish by participants from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and the USA. Topics addressed in the symposium included: surveillance, operations, ecology, chemical control, natural products, biological control, and insecticide resistance. Additionally, vector studies included malaria, dengue virus, and chikungunya virus transmission studies. The first reports and characterizations of infections in Mexico were reported during the symposium. Insect vectors included Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes in addition to ticks and triatomines.

John A. Mulrennan, Sr.: An Entomology Pioneer of Florida

Excerpt: The honors John A. Mulrennan, Sr. received during and after his illustrious career are a testament to his extraordinary success and the esteem in which he was held by his peers. A mosquito and a sand fly species bear his name in international scientific nomenclature. He served as president of the American Mosquito Control Association, State Public Health Vector Control Association, Florida Anti-Mosquito Association, Florida Entomological Society, and Florida Public Health Association, and was the first chairman of the United States and Territorial Vector Control Conference. He received the Meritorious Service Award from the Florida Public Health Association and was installed in their “Hall of Memory.” He also was awarded “Florida’s Man of the Year in Entomology” in 1974 by the Florida Entomological Society (Florida Entomologist 58: 121–123, 1975). However, the tribute he cherished most was the Honorary Doctor of Science degree bestowed by his alma mater, the University of Florida, in 1972 (Fig. 4). He loved the “Gators” and was a diehard fan for many years before his passing. In his Presidential Address to the Florida Public Health Association in 1955, Dr. Mulrennan, Sr. (Fig. 5) made the following statement that summarizes his philosophy of life: “If you have faith in the mission to which you have dedicated yourself for suffering humanity—then, with your technical knowledge you will be able to open wide the eyes, minds, and hearts of all mankind to the fact that public health is the preservation of the human body. Our responsibility is one of supreme importance when we realize that the human body is the most sacred of all temples—for therein dwells a soul which on that final day must give its accounting for its stewardship on this earth.” View this article in BioOne

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

2015 AMCA Memorial Lecture Honoree: Dr. Richard Floyd Darsie, Jr.

Richard Floyd Darsie, Jr. (1915-2014) is the 2015 American Mosquito Control Association Memorial Lecture Honoree. He was one of the greatest mosquito taxonomists of the 20th century and died peacefully on April 10, 2014, in Grove City, PA, at the age of 99 after a professional career that spanned eight decades. Dick's broad areas of interest and training made him a versatile scientist, teacher, and researcher. His intense interest in adult and immature mosquito morphology and taxonomy, as well as mosquito distribution and bionomics, started early in his career at two early academic postings: Franklin and Marshall College (1949-54) and the University of Delaware (1954-62). Dick would take his mosquito interests with him to postings and research projects around the world: Nepal, the Philippines, Atlanta, El Salvador, Guatemala, Fort Collins, South Carolina, Argentina, and Florida. His travels and studies would make him an international expert on mosquito taxonomy. Dick's legacy lives on in the hundreds of students from across the globe who learned mosquito identification skills from this world-renowned mosquito taxonomist. All will proudly profess that, "I learned mosquito identification from Dr. Darsie." And that is all that is needed to prove one's credentials in the field, learning the art from the best there is.

Mosquito Vector Biology and Control in Latin America-A 25TH Symposium.

The 25th Annual Latin American Symposium presented by the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) was held as part of the 81st Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, in March 2015. The principal objective, as for the previous 24 symposia, was to promote participation in the AMCA by vector control specialists, public health workers, and academicians from Latin America. This publication includes summaries of 24 presentations that were given orally in Spanish by participants from Colombia, Mexico, and the USA. Topics addressed in the symposium included: surveillance, operations, ecology, chemical control, studies of dengue viruses, and insecticide resistance. Insect vectors included Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes in addition to phlebotomine sand flies and triatomine bugs.

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

American mosquito control association annual board of directors meeting in Seattle, washington-february 6, 2014.

American mosquito control association annual board of directors meeting in Seattle, washington-february 6, 2014.