What's in Your Home?

A recent study revealing the surprising diversity of invertebrates in the average American home has been publicized in the last week through articles in a plethora of magazines, newspapers, and online outlets. Among them are The Atlantic, Wired, the News & Observer, Entomology Today, even Science Knocks on YouTube. The question for you, dear reader, is "what's in your home?"

Gall midges like this one (family Cecidomyiidae) are apparently among the most common indoor insects

The actual study, if you want to read it, was published in the journal Peer J, under the title "Arthropods of the great indoors: characterizing diversity inside urban and suburban homes". Matthew A. Bertone, Misha Leong, Keith M. Bayless, Tara L.F. Malow, Robert R. Dunn, and Michelle D. Trautwein are the authors. They did a systematic but gentle job of capturing specimens in 50 homes in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. We should also applaud the homeowners who volunteered for the study.

I think I would be highly embarrassed to have anyone see the condition of my own home, though I do proudly assert that I am not a lousy housekeeper, I am promoting biodiversity! In fact, I have kept track of the arthropods in our Colorado Springs townhouse the last four years, and though I haven't even emptied the light fixtures to see what bugs have died there, or otherwise done a thorough examination, I have found at least 28 species of arthropods.

That total is apparently low on the spectrum revealed by Bertone and his colleagues, who found 32-211 "morphospecies" per home. A morphospecies is a specimen representative of something that is easily differentiated from other organisms, but not identifiable to a true species without much closer examination. Now I really am sheepish. I'll have to look harder.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug from Oregon

Winter is actually a great time for indoor bug-hunting because you have species that are ever-present, but also those that have made their way indoors for the winter, like Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles, Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, and Western Conifer Seed Bugs. That firewood you brought in might spawn some longhorned beetles and other wood-boring insects, too.

It is encouraging, but not surprising, that the overwhelming majority of species collected in the study are not the pest species you might expect, but at most "nuisance" insects and spiders that pose no threat to people, pets, or property. This is the message that needs to reach the masses: We can coexist. Indeed, we already are.

The Zika Virus

The Zika virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, has captured headlines recently and set off something of a panic. This is technically not a "new" virus, as it was first discovered in the course of researching yellow fever in Africa in 1947. A rhesus monkey, caged near the Zika Forest in Uganda, contracted a fever of unknown origin, later (1952) determined to be caused by what we now call the Zika virus.

Aedes aegypti, one vector of Zika virus

The first human case occurred in Nigeria in 1954. It has remained rare and largely innocuous throughout its distribution in Africa and southeast Asia, until 2007 when an epidemic erupted on Yap Island in Micronesia. Subsequent epidemics in the Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands, and New Caledonia increased concern, but nothing like events in the last two months.

Two concerns have cropped up that have infectious disease specialists alarmed: Zika has jumped the Pacific Ocean and is now found in many countries in South America, Central America, and a few Caribbean nations. It has therefore been classified as a pandemic; there is also evidence the virus may be linked to birth defects, specifically microcephaly. There is also the possibility that the virus can, rarely, trigger Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a type of autoimmune disease.

What we know for certain is that the virus is not contagious. It cannot be spread from one person to another through casual contact. It is transmitted by mosquitoes in the genus Aedes, and possibly by sexual intercourse. Most people who contract the virus exhibit symptoms typical of the flu, and recover quickly.

Cases of the Zika virus in the U.S. are known from Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Hawaii. All victims had returned from travel overseas to countries known to harbor Zika.

This chain of events prompted the Centers for Disease Control to issue a Level 2 Travel Alert for pregnant women on January 15, 2016. Recommendations are that pregnant women avoid traveling to countries where the Zika virus is known to exist. This includes Puerto Rico.

An explosion of 3,500 microcephaly cases in Brazil between October, 2015 and January, 2016 is certainly cause for alarm; and it is at least suspicious that this coincides with the recent infiltration of Zika from the Old World.

Whether mosquito populations in the Gulf Coast states of the U.S. will become carriers of Zika is open to speculation, but considering the other illnesses vectored by mosquitoes, it is always an excellent idea to practice preventive measures such as wearing pants, long sleeves, and hats when outdoors. Repellents with DEET as the active ingredient can be applied per instructions (follow them to the letter). Emptying reservoirs and containers that trap rainwater is also crucial, as these are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Sources: Etymologia: Zika virus. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2014 Jun [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2006.ET2006
"Zika Virus," Wikipedia