The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
by Timothy C. Winegard
New Arrivals Island, 2nd Floor
QL536 .W56 2019
Slap! Smack! Ouch! Once the snow melts those darn mosquitoes are everywhere.
When I first moved to Wisconsin, a student joked with me that Wisconsin has only two seasons: winter and road repair. But you could just as easily substitute mosquitoes for road repair. Last summer I noticed that the mosquitoes in Wyoming were smaller, slower, and dumber than the ones in Wisconsin. But they were there — and as annoying as ever. And according to this book, it’s hard to get away from them, though it is possible. If Antarctica is not your cup of tea, perhaps Iceland or the Seychelles would be more comfortable places to hole up away from the hungry hordes?
This book outlines all the many ways that mosquitoes make life miserable for just about everyone else on the planet. Did you know that mosquitoes kill more humans than any other creatures (sadly, humans are #2 on this list)? Mosquitoes are armed with weaponry that would make any warlord envious. Their chemical arsenals eclipse that of Monsanto. Their ability to deliver vector-borne diseases is unsurpassed by any other species.
When I noticed that the author wrote military history, it all made sense. This book is a natural history of the deadliest species of killing machines the earth has ever known.
If you’d like to hear what all the buzz is about, you can watch the author’s lecture on this book.