Take a bite at helping Scots mosquito study
Public urged to take part by reporting sightings of insect
WE are used to seeing the humble midge around the Scottish countryside – but now scientists are asking people in Scotland to be on the lookout for mosquitoes, as new research shows they can be found in many locations across the country.
Mosquito Scotland has established a surveillance project across the country and has been collecting data on Scottish mosquitoes for a year.
It is a collaborative project between the University of Glasgow, the MRCUofG Centre for Virus Research (CVR), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).
Now, the project is launching a new “citizen science” website – www. mosquito-scotland.com – to encourage members of the public to report when and where they spot the insects in Scotland.
The three-year programme which was awarded a £1.25 million grant from UK Research & Innovation and Defra in 2023. It is the first to assess the risk of mosquito-borne pathogen emergence in Scotland under current and future climate change scenarios.
The project aims to find out which mosquito species are present in Scotland, where they are found, whether they are harbouring any diseases currently or if they could become infected by pathogens that may expand into the UK with climate change.
So far, researchers have found mosquitoes in almost every place they looked in the last year, covering the length and breadth of Scotland. While mosquitoes do not currently pose a risk to public health in Scotland, they are already able to transmit diseases to birds in other parts of the UK. Efforts to find and trap mosquitoes across Scotland are being led by Dr Georgia Kirby and PhD scholar Meshach Lee in the university’s School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine.
Throughout the last year they have collected more than 1000 mosquitoes across Scotland, in a range of locations, from parks in urban Glasgow to nature reserves on the northern coast of the country.
The new website has instructions on how the public can join the search by registering a mosquito sighting and uploading a photo, with tips on how to recognise these insects, and information on their ecology.
People can request a follow-up from the research team about the type of mosquito they have found – if a goodquality photograph is submitted – or send dead mosquitoes for identification. The information will be used to understand how common some mosquitoes are across the country, and which types are most likely to be found around people. It will also help researchers understand whether mosquitoes are a source of “nuisance biting” in Scotland, and to generate baseline information for longer-term monitoring of how mosquitoes respond to climate change.
While most people know that mosquitoes are found in tropical climates, they also exist at higher latitudes, including within the Arctic Circle. They are resident throughout the UK, and can be found in colder, more remote parts of Scotland, where they are most active from May to October.
Although mosquitoes can sometimes be confused with other betterknown biting insects such as midges and “clegs” (horseflies), they can be distinguished from these two groups based on size: being bigger than midges, and smaller than horseflies; and other characteristics, such as the high-pitched whining noise the adults make while flying.
Heather Ferguson, professor of infectious disease ecology at the University of Glasgow, who leads the project, said: “Although relatively low in abundance, mosquitoes have been present in Scotland for millennia, and are a natural part of our ecosystems.
“While they don’t present a risk to human health here currently, climate change could increase the risk of invasive mosquito species establishing in Scotland. It may also increase the risk for mosquito-borne diseases that are present in some other European countries to establish.
“By sharing information on when and where they observe mosquitoes, members of the public can make a very valuable contribution to this research and help us anticipate and prepare for any potentially negative impacts of climate change on mosquito-borne diseases”.
SCIENTISTS from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) have cracked the mystery of the strange yellowish phenomenon spotted by members of the public on coastlines around Scotland.
Sightings of the “paint-like substance” had been reported all over the country with inquiries coming from Glasgow, the Hebrides, the Highlands, and Fife and Angus.
Staff from Sepa’s National Monitoring Team were called and collected samples of the substance on the west coast from a stretch between the Isle of Arran, Fairlie, and Largs.
The samples that were collected from the west coast were then taken to Sepa’s Marine Ecology Team based at Eurocentral, which is near Motherwell.
After processing the samples, the team of experts identified the strange substance as Conifer pollen deposits.
Myles O’Reilly, senior marine ecologist from Sepa, said the pollen from the Conifer trees are buoyant so can easily cover the coastline and coat other areas around them like rocks and parked cars.
He said: “At this time of year, the public can expect to see yellowish slicks of pollen deposits collecting on shorelines around Scotland.
“Around April and May, conifer trees, such as spruce or pine, produce copious quantities of pollen.
“Conifer pollen grains have little buoyancy sacs to help them disperse in the wind, and these sacs also mean they float well on water. The pollen deposits can form a mat or slick on the sea, collect around the seashore and look like a paint-like substance covering rocks and beaches. It can also coat parked vehicles.”