Understanding tropical disease is one thing, but scientists need to know more about the carriers. The world contains thousands of species of mosquitoes, and entomologists such as Mike Turell and Bill Romoser know a lot about a few of them. What they learn about mosquitoes tells them a lot about the human diseases that some transmit, which explains their hunt in Ecuador. Whatever its other charms, Portoviejo provided one entomologist with a gold mine of mosquitoes, which can transmit a variety of nasty diseases.
Most mosquitoes live about three weeks, depending on the species.
They begin as eggs, which hatch into larvae in about 48 hours. Within seven days, the mosquitoes are adults and capable of reproducing. Which means the females are hungry for blood, which they need for reproduction. If a female mosquito is infected with a virus, such as the one that causes yellow fever or dengue fever, or a protozoan, such as the one that causes malaria, she can transmit the disease when she bites. The most prevalent mosquito-borne disease in Ecuador is malaria.