OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE VIRGINIA MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE VIRGINIA MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION
Virtual option continues to be available - see below.
The annual Adult Mosquito Identification Course will take place on Monday, May 6th, 2024 at Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission’s facility, 1611 Shell Road, Chesapeake, VA 23323 - Admin. Building Training Room. This one-day course starts at 7:00am and lasts until roughly 3:00pm. The class is organized through the VMCA Education Committee with assistance from local Virginia mosquito control biologists as teachers on the topics of mosquito biology and each genus (frequent to our region).
This class is held annually as an introductory training session for seasonal interns, summer part-time biology positions, mosquito biologists new to the area, and/or other mosquito control staff as a cross-training opportunity. Class size is limited to 20 students; attendees should have mosquito control, surveillance and/or identification in their job description and duties. The course is open to VMCA members (as well as affiliated MC associations) to register staff. Sign-up is on a first-come basis, so don’t miss your chance!
Registration instructions:
Contact VMCA Education Committee Chair, Katherine Reutt, via email (kreutt@cityofchesapeake.net) with your name, the student you are signing up (if not yourself) and your organization.
Registration closes Friday, April 26th.
A light breakfast and lunch will be provided by the VMCA. If you have dietary restrictions and/or would like to bring your own food, a refrigerator/freezer and microwave are available.
Please see below for the class agenda, student supply list, directions, and more. If you need a copy of the recommended ID Guide, a downloadable (full-text) PDF version is available at www.ncmvca.org. If you are missing anything from the supply list, please notify Katherine when signing up.
Follow yellow arrow for entrance. Parking areas highlighted in green, including under the carport. Front door highlighted in red.
In addition to this year's in-person class, the VMCA will continue to offer the virtual mosquito identification course. The course is conducted through the joint effort of VA mosquito control biologists, FREE, and posted on this page to view at your own pace.
This course is not strict taxonomy but is more of a practical training geared toward seasonal interns, field technicians, or biologists new to the area who will be performing adult mosquito speciation. The course will cover general mosquito information including anatomy, bionomics, diseases, fieldwork concerns, and laboratory protocols. Those species occurring in Virginia will be the focus; genera covered include: Aedes, Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Culex, Culiseta, Orthopodomyia, Psorophora, Toxorhynchites, and Uranotaenia.
Normally when VMCA hosts this course, it is done live and there are hands-on specimen ID sections to practice identifying species in each genera. Therefore, in order to get the most out of this virtual course, it is recommended (not required) that you have access to the following:
We hope that you find this course useful and feel free to share it with whomever could benefit. For each presentation below, you may contact each speaker with questions regarding their material if they have listed their contact information within their presentation. If a speaker's contact information is not listed or for any other questions please contact us at virginiamosquito@gmail.com
Thank you!
If the videos below have difficulty loading, please go directly to the YouTube playlist by clicking the button below.
Wes Robertson, Entomologist for Henrico County Public Works provides an overview of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and general mosquito biology
Lisa Wagenbrenner, Director of Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission discusses concerns and animal encounters during field work
Janice Pulver, Biologist for York County Mosquito Control demonstrates various adult mosquito trapping methods
Jay Kiser, Biologist for the City of Suffolk Mosquito Control, gives an overview of how to set up and use a microscope, how to manipulate mosquito specimens for identification, and demonstrates use of a dichotomous key to genus level
Jay Kiser, Biologist for the City of Suffolk Mosquito Control teaches viewers about the Aedes genus in Virginia
Michael Bowry, Biologist for the City of Hampton Public Works teaches viewers about the Anopheles genus in Virginia
Karen Akaratovic, Biologist for the City of Suffolk Mosquito Control teaches viewers about the Culex genus in Virginia
Jennifer Barritt, Biologist for Virginia Beach Mosquito Control teaches viewers about the "minor" genera (coined term due to very few species in each) in Virginia which includes: Coquillettidia, Culiseta, Orthopodomyia, Toxorhynchites, and Uranotaenia
Penelope Smelser, Environmental Health Specialist for Norfolk Department of Public Health teaches viewers about the Psorophora genus in Virginia
Copyright © 2022 Virginia Mosquito Control Association - All Rights Reserved.
Website Chair Wes Robertson (rob106@henrico.gov)
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