Chicago's Experimental Mosquito Breeding Project

Most cities have programs to control local mosquito populations. Chicago used to, but they are breaking away from tradition.

In a sharp departure from conventional wisdom and scientific protocol, City of Chicago's Department of Entymology is encouraging the unfettered breeding of mosquitos. In cooperation with the Chicago Park District, large potholes are deliberately left unrepaired at Loyola Beach in Rogers Park (left) for years.

The stagnant water that collects and sits in these large holes provides an ideal environment for the mosquito larvae to grow to mature flying, blood sucking adults.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to see how mosquitos can thrive in an urban environment if allowed to breed undisturbed," said Dr. Marcus Wachowski of the Dept. of Entymology and head of the Mosquito Breeding Program. In an exclusive interview with Rogers Park Bench, Dr. Wachowski said that in the past people were frequently reminded by city authorities to empty water from old car tires, rain gutters and other places that mosquito breed.

"That's all changed," Wachowski said. "Man's intereference may have gone too far. The mosquito has been around for a lot longer than humans and may play a more important role in the environment than we previously thought." To find out, the City of Chicago has been letting local park trails go to hell, deliberately leaving large potholes unrepaired.

"Allowing the potholes to stay unfilled provides a great place for mosquitos to breed," Wachowski noted. "It simulates small ponds or other naturally occuring bodies of stagnant water." He and his colleagues hope to see "an explosion" of Chicago's local mosquito population.

When asked about the possibility of people becoming ill or even dying from mosquito-born diseases, Wachowski said that "the risk of disease is minimal compared to the possible knowledge we may acquire," Wachowski said.

"Imagine," he said, "how much we might learn about the way that avian flu or West Nile virus is spread by these efficient disease carriers."

The next time you are jogging or biking along the lakefront, remember the Mosquito Breeding Program. "You might see those big holes as scientific progress," Wachowski said, "instead of dangerous, unsightly hazards."

Editor's Note: Just after press time, Rogers Park tavern owner Katy Hogan heard about the interview with Dr. Wachowski and tried be included in the interview. When asked what possible reason RPB would have for interviewing her about the Mosquito Breeding Program, Hogan noted that she has worked her way into many interviews about things she has nothing to do with. RPB politely declined to interview tavern owner Hogan on this subject.