The San Bernardino County Department of Health and its vector control division have been silent in the face of reports that aggressive and atypically resilient mosquitoes or cuicoides of an unknown provenance have been extant in the northeastern end of San Bernardino.
Reports have reached the Sentinel that the insects, which are hard to detect visually, are proliferating, perhaps breeding in standing pools of water in the troughs in the flood control district facilities and settling ponds east of the Arrowhead Country Club.
The Sentinel was told that the insects are able to survive and thrive in conditions that are inhospitable to native mosquitoes and/or midges, that being in cold weather and possibly in cold water that has accumulated locally as a consequence of the rainstorms that took place in November and earlier this month.
One resident characterized the mosquitoes as no-see-ums, similar to culicoides, also known as punkies or biting midges, which are minute flies barely visible to the eye.According to one local resident, the insects are apparently able to inflict bites through two layers of clothing. One report had it that a woman who is a resident of the area suffered a substantial number of bites on and around her ankles, which were the only uncovered areas of her body other than her neck and head while she was briefly out in her yard.
The bites from the bugs inflict what were described as bright deep pink or red welts.