Welcome


 Hello! My name is Ellen Osterman excited to be working as a summer intern for the Fritz Lab at the University of Maryland Department of Entomology. Follow along for weekly updates and to learn more of the rise of Culex Mosquitos!
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Week 3

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During the third week, Izi and I learned about how to prepare a “squish prep” otherwise known as a DNA extraction. This step was fun to learn because it involves more technical squish prep where we must dissect the mosquitoes by separating the thorax from their abdomen.  Picture of dissected Culex mosquito. Abdomen is used for squish prep and kept in a strip tube while the thorax is kept in a separate tube as the individual. To prepare for this first part of DNA extraction, we set up an ice bucket to keep the thoraxes, and four strip tubes to keep the abdomen. The tubes for the thoraxes are much bigger and are labeled with the mosquito's names, which include the year, their trap night, and the number of the individual. We organize the individual abdomens using a drawn diagram. Shown below. This is an example of the notebook setup and the microscope used to dissect the mosquitos. the beaker contains a 10% bleach solution for disinfecting the Petri dish and forceps. Generally, it is
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Week 10

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 The week of July 29th is the last week of the NEVBD internship! I have learned many molecular techniques and taxonomic tools over these past 10 weeks. Initially, I underestimated the importance of surveillance and trapping Culex mosquitoes. Getting bit up by mosquitoes as a lifeguard for 5 years led me to doubt the efficacy of vector control efforts. The Fritz lab, however, has cleared my skepticism. The threat posed by mosquitoes and other vectors is undeniable; particularly considering the rise of global and local temperatures. The surge in Dengue and West Nile Virus cases within the DMV underscores the need for effective mosquito monitoring to prevent the risk of outbreaks in the future.   Despite widespread discussions and global awareness of climate change, many people underestimate the urgency of preparing for a hotter world, especially in public health. Learning about how institutions have begun to prepare for vector-borne diseases has been enlightening. I am eager to contribut
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Week 2

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  After catching mosquitoes, the next step in the protocol is to sort mosquitos underneath a microscope. So to start off the second week of the internship, Ben showed me the proper way to identify different insects in the trap as well as the key field features of Culex mosquitoes! The first thing to look for to identify mosquitoes from other invertebrates are their scaly wings. They have hair-like appendages on the very ends of their wings. They also have a long proboscis, a long tubular mouthpiece used to suck up the blood of other animals. The insect above lacks scaly wings while the insect below is a Culex mosquito.  Culex in particular focuses on avians and people, though different subspecies have a preference for each group with Culex pipiens and Culex quinquefasciatus biting both humans and birds and people. The other species in the genus, Culex r estuans tends to feed primarily on birds. After identifying the insect to be a mosquito, the next field characteristic of Culex I w
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