Going to Hawai’i to escape the winter back home? Whether you are an expert birder or just bird curious, or just open to exploring the birds of the islands, the most important item to pack is the Merlin birding app, from the Cornell Lab of Orinthology. Jonee Peters, a Native Hawaiian and the executive director of Conservation Council for Hawai’i, a Federation affiliate, explains how Hawai’i has become the home to 44% of the country’s endangered and threatened species. And she helps us to untangle the significance of a modified mosquito to save the last of Hawai’i’s native birds. October was an ..read more

While we enjoy sunshine and vacations, it may seem that mosquitoes serve no other purpose than to ruin our summer fun. While that is not true, mosquitoes can be vectors for harmful viruses, including Dengue, Zika, and West Nile Virus—even in the United States, and controlling mosquito populations is a matter of public health. Historically, we have tried to solve the mosquito problem with heavy use of synthetic chemical pesticides which have been proven to be highly toxic to other insects, including important pollinators, like bees. Fortunately, mounting pressure from environmentally-minded cit ..read more

While we enjoy sunshine and vacations, it may seem that mosquitoes serve no other purpose than to ruin our summer fun. While that is not true, mosquitoes can be vectors for harmful viruses, including Dengue, Zika, and West Nile Virus—even in the United States, and controlling mosquito populations is a matter of public health. Historically, we have tried to solve the mosquito problem with heavy use of synthetic chemical pesticides which have been proven to be highly toxic to other insects, including important pollinators, like bees. Fortunately, mounting pressure from environmentally-minded cit ..read more

While we enjoy sunshine and vacations, it may seem that mosquitoes serve no other purpose than to ruin our summer fun. While that is not true, mosquitoes can be vectors for harmful viruses, including Dengue, Zika, and West Nile Virus—even in the United States, and controlling mosquito populations is a matter of public health. Historically, we have tried to solve the mosquito problem with heavy use of synthetic chemical pesticides which have been proven to be highly toxic to other insects, including important pollinators, like bees. Fortunately, mounting pressure from environmentally-minded cit ..read more

When the weather is nice, there’s nothing better than getting out of the house to enjoy nature right outside your door. Whether it’s grilling out with family, doing some gardening, or even just taking a nap in the fresh air, spending time in your yard or on your deck or patio is a great way to connect with nature. Good friends and family and backyard birds and butterflies are always welcome, but there’s one guest nobody wants visiting while enjoying time outside: mosquitoes.  These pesky insects can turn a pleasant outdoor gathering into an itchy nightmare. No one likes mosquito bites, so ..read more

Mosquitoes are a persistent annoyance during the summer months, and while we can empathize with the fantasy of totally eradicating these biting insects in a tornado of poisons, we at the National Wildlife Federation encourage people to avoid insecticide sprays in favor of more natural solutions. Spraying to kill adult mosquitoes isn’t an effective solution. There’s no way to avoid having a fatal impact on beneficial insects, such as bees and butterflies, and other wildlife when spraying broad-spectrum insecticides (regardless of what companies who spray tell you). Here are three better, more n ..read more

Two weeks into the unofficial start of summer, the mercury is rising across much of the country — along with widespread fear about the mosquito-borne Zika virus. As of this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed more than 690 Zika cases in the continental United States — including more than 200 pregnant women — as well as a long-suspected link between the virus and severe fetal abnormalities. In April, CDC released a revised U.S. range map for the primary mosquito vector of Zika, Aedes aegypti, showing that the species ranges farther north ..read more

Guest post by D. Scott Taylor Fishing in the Florida mangroves.Counting mosquitoes is never easy, especially when they are biting you, but that’s what I was getting paid for. There I was, a mosquito biologist on a hot summer day, knee deep in the mud of a mangrove swamp bordering the Indian River Lagoon, the long estuarine system along the Florida east-coast.  I had given up trying to get a “biting count” (believe it or not, you actually try to count the number landing on you in one minute…an ‘index’ of misery!). I had stood in this very spot two weeks before, and there were none, but sho ..read more

  Today National Wildlife Federation had our first appearance on the Dr. Oz Show.   The show theme was “surviving summer” and as NWF Naturalist I joined Dr. Oz’s “Dream Team” to give viewers some tips on enjoying the great outdoors this summer while avoiding getting bitten or stung by some of the insects and other critters that sometimes “bug” us. Specifically, we talked about bees, wasps, mosquitoes and ticks.  If you missed it, here’s a run-down of what I talked about in the segment. Keep Perspective The first thing is to put things in perspective. You have far more to worry a ..read more