SC mosquito season getting longer, report shows. Here’s why and where it’s worst in the state
South Carolina has become more hospitable to mosquitoes as the climate has warmed over the years, a recent report shows.
The Climate Central report assessed long-term trends in mosquito days across the U.S. The report defines a mosquito day as having both average relative humidity of 42% or higher and minimum and maximum temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees.
Climate Central looked at 242 locations across the U.S. and calculated the mosquito days for them each year from 1973 to 2022.
“As the U.S. has warmed over the last 43 years, the annual number of mosquito days has increased in many places,” the report states.
South Carolina mosquito days
For South Carolina, the report examined Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Myrtle Beach and the Upstate. Here’s how many more mosquito days those areas have gained over the last 43 years, listed from highest to lowest, according to the report.
Upstate: 22 days
Myrtle Beach: 21 days
Columbia: 11 days
Florence: 10 days
Charleston: 8 days
U.S. mosquito days
The report shows that of the 242 days analyzed, 173 have had an increase of 16 mosquito days on average. And 55 places have had an annual increase of 21 mosquito days or more.
Here are the 10 places in the U.S. that have seen the biggest jumps in mosquito days, according to the report.
Santa Maria, Calif.: 43 days
San Francisco, Calif: 42 days
State College, Pa.: 33 days
Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.: 32 days
Manchester, N.H.: 31 days
Birmingham area, Ala.: 30 days
Burlington, Vt.: 29 days
Clarksburg-Weston, W. Va.: 28 days
Salinas, Calif.: 28 days
Wheeling, W. Va.: 28 days
4 worst types of mosquitoes in SC
There are at least 61 different species of mosquitoes that buzz around South Carolina every year, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The pesky insects cause annoying, itchy bites, but the real problem is their potential to carry and spread diseases. Only certain species of mosquitoes carry diseases though.
Here are four of the worst species of mosquitoes in South Carolina because of their aggressiveness and or ability to carry dangerous diseases.
Asian tiger mosquito: Asian tiger mosquitoes can be identified by their black and white markings. They also have a single silvery-white line on the backs of their torsos. They are among the more prevalent biting species in South Carolina. They can transmit pathogens and viruses like the West Nile Virus and can cause heartworm in dogs and cats.
Aedes aegypti mosquito: They can be identified by the unique silvery-white scale bands on their legs and their U-shaped abdomens. They are known to transmit several diseases, including the Zika virus, Dengue fever, Mayaro and Yellow fever.
Anopheles quadrimaculatus mosquito: The mosquito’s name, quadrimaculatus, is Latin for “four-spotted,” and refers to the scaly pattern on its wings, which creates four distinct patches that can be seen by the naked eye. It is known to transmit the West Nile virus, Malaria and heartworm.
Southern house mosquito: It is a medium-sized, brown mosquito that lives throughout the southern U.S. states. It prefers to feed at night and can spread diseases such as Lymphatic filariasis, St. Louis encephalitis, Zika and the West Nile virus.
