FARGO — Mosquitoes have been documented in fossil records dating back to the Jurassic period over 200 million years ago. Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths (more than a million) each year than any other animal on Earth, due to the malaria parasite they can transmit in their saliva. Malaria is not found here in the northern plains and Midwest, but native mosquitoes can transmit the West Nile virus.
There are more than 3,000 different species of mosquitoes on Earth. Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide we breathe out. Only female mosquitoes bite. Males feed on nectar. When a female mosquito sucks your blood, she also gives you a small amount of her saliva, which contains an anticoagulant. It is your reaction to the chemicals in the saliva that causes the bump and itching. Some people react more strongly to the bites than others. Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
John Wheeler is chief meteorologist at WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South in Louisiana and Alabama and says his family’s move to the Midwest was important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.
