The Buzz About Summer

Have you suffered your first mosquito bite of the season yet? I registered my first known bite on Monday, June 4, at 7 a.m.

I say "first known" because I was already scratching some bites on my legs of unknown origin. It was probably mosquitoes, but it could have been My Lovely Wife with a hypodermic full of benzene jabbing me while I napped.

But that Monday bite, I saw it happen: A prick at my left wrist while walking the dog followed by a slap with my right hand and I'd made my first confirmed mosquito kill of 2007. I'll have plenty more opportunities as the summer goes on.

So will Sheila Ploger of Potomac, if she bothers to venture outside. She wrote me to say that she hasn't put out her patio furniture in three summers. She's tired of being lunch for the Asian tiger mosquitoes that terrorize these parts.

"I have read the news stories, talked with friends, checked my yard for even tiny pools of water where they might breed and empty the bird bath regularly," Sheila wrote. "My questions are: What is the range of the mosquito and what solutions have others found successful?"

Range? I've seen conflicting reports, from 300 feet to 300 yards to three miles. Even if we go by the smallest number, that would mean Sheila would have to police an area the size of a football field on every side of her house. That's why eradication is so hard. You can tip the standing water out of your flowerpots, but what if your neighbor doesn't, or your neighbor's neighbor?

That doesn't mean we should give up totally. As I type this, I'm imagining the water pooled in the seat of a canvas chair in my back yard. I'm sure it's boiling with Asian tiger larvae. I'll dump it when I get home, I promise.

Joe Conlon, technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association, has a grudging respect for the species. "As mosquitoes go, it's a beautiful mosquito," he said. And a tenacious one: "They will bite throughout the day. You're not just for breakfast anymore."

Besides the obvious -- eliminate all standing water; wear repellent -- Joe had one other recommendation: "I'm a big believer in floor fans. A steady breeze will keep the mosquitoes off you."

The Future's So Bright . . .

Have you gazed into your crystal ball yet? I'm inviting readers to make silly predictions as to what the Washington area will be like in the year 2057. I'll treat the author of my favorite to lunch.

My column reminded Vienna's Joan India Fraser of some of the predictions her class at Paul Junior High School made in 1944.

"Mine was for a little red light to go on when a new call was coming in while you were talking on the phone," wrote Joan. "That was very important to a 15-year-old girl so that she never missed a call." If only she'd patented it!