By Birgit Bürkner and Julian Loevenich
They attack their victims in swarms, are extremely aggressive, transmit dangerous tropical diseases – the Asian tiger mosquitoes. Now they are buzzing through Berlin too!
Six adult specimens were discovered in the Vogelsang allotment garden in Treptow. Biologists from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute and Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) set up traps in 35 plots. Mosquitoes of this species were already sighted in the facility last year.
The animals were discovered in the Vogelsang 2 colony in Treptow Photo: Joerg Bergmann
“A successful hibernation is thus proven and a permanent settlement is to be feared,” says a spokeswoman for the Senate Health Administration. “This makes Berlin the northernmost point in Germany where tiger mosquitoes and their local reproduction have been detected.”
Renate P. (63), pensioner: “I’ve had a lot of mosquito bites. I have never seen a tiger mosquito. But now I change the water in the bird bath every two days” Photo: Joerg Bergmann
The insect species is originally native to Southeast Asia. It was introduced to Europe and Germany with the worldwide movement of goods and by travelers returning. Global warming allowed her to settle down here.
The tiger mosquito is relatively small and easily recognizable due to its black and white coloration. The abdomen and hind legs in particular have a distinctive black and white pattern. “The tiger mosquito poses a particular risk because it can carry more than twenty pathogens,” says insect researcher Dr. Doreen Werner (53) from ZALF.
Kasi Kasirga (43), Fleischer: “I haven’t seen a tiger mosquito yet, but my wife has. We want to drive them away with incense spirals” Photo: Joerg Bergmann
It can transmit dengue, chikungunya or zika viruses, which can cause fever, abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, skin rashes and joint pain, among other things. The danger is still low in this country, because beforehand she would have to have bitten a sick person.
Treptow-Köpenick
The mosquito uses the smallest amounts of standing water to reproduce. “The elimination of breeding waters is central to combating this,” says Werner.
Dora Hentrich (85): “Three weeks ago, the biologists put a trap in my garden to see if there were tiger mosquitoes here” Photo: Joerg Bergmann
Anyone who catches a suspicious mosquito specimen is asked to send it in (info: https://mueckenatlas.com). In this way, populations can be detected and controlled at an early stage.
