Under the guidance of Dr. Don Yee in collaboration with STPMAD, Catherine Dean Bermond, a University of Southern Mississippi graduate student is completing her Masters thesis on the sewage influence on the southern house mosquito life-history traits (development time and body size). As well, Ms. Bermond is investigating carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) ratios in mosquitoes reared in sewage-polluted water compared to clean water from natural ground pools. This technique uses stable isotope analysis to identify C to N ratios that are indicative of human waste. In the summer of 2021, Ms. Bermond collected samples from field sites in St. Tammany for her project. If successful, Ms. Bermond hopes to collect adult mosquitoes and determine whether they were reared as larvae in sewage-influenced or clean water habitats. The research will allow STPMAD to know what total proportion of southern house mosquitoes are the product of sewage-polluted habitats.
St Tammany Mosquito Abatement
Mosquito Management
