Scientists learn more about mosquito first spotted in South Florida in 2018
MIAMI - There's a new mosquito in town, and it's called the Culex Lactator.
University of Florida researchers discovered the insect in Homestead back in 2018, but it was not until recently, we learned more about the bug.
CBS News Miami met with Florida International University scientists, and they say, in the past 5 years, the United States has seen more new insect species than ever before.
They attribute the increase in bugs to traveling and development in once-rural areas.
The issue is that it takes years to study and research these insects.
"The process takes a while, it's not so simple," says Andre Silva, a research assistant professor at FIU.
Over the years, mosquitoes have carried diseases like Zika, Dengue and West Nile Virus.
And if this new mosquito can spread disease, we may not know about it for years.
"We are learning more about their behavior, we are getting collections to sequence their genome," says Silva.
The good news is that as of right now, the Culex Lactator mostly gravitates towards birds and reptiles.
"It's likely that we'll know in a few years if they can interact with other viruses," says Silva.
Since South Florida has entered mosquito season, the best thing folks can do is make sure there's no standing water around their homes, and wear mosquito repellent whenever outside.
