{"id":471969,"date":"2026-09-22T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471969\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:00:16","slug":"mosquitoes-fascinating-history-doesnt-make-them-less-annoying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471969\/","title":{"rendered":"Mosquitoes\u2019 fascinating history doesn\u2019t make them less annoying"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sept. 22, 2026 5 AM PT <\/p>\n

To the editor: I take no comfort in knowing that I am not alone in \u201cmosquito hell\u201d and I completely commiserate with columnist Robin Abcarian (\u201cMosquitoes are making Los Angeles summers a living hell,\u201d<\/a> Sept. 20). She perfectly describes the agony of the situation.<\/p>\n

I just walk outside in the morning to get my Los Angeles Times and get attacked. The itching is driving me crazy. Not only do the bites itch, but it feels like my whole body is itching. But beware of the scratching; I just ended up with cellulitis and am now taking antibiotics as a result!<\/p>\n

The history of the mosquito and its impact on society is fascinating to read about but, sadly, does not lessen the misery.<\/p>\n

Liz Sherwin, Los Angeles<\/p>\n

..<\/p>\n

To the editor: I\u2019m convinced that mosquitoes are insects that aliens have designed to torment humanity. I scratch at the bite because I can\u2019t resist the insidious itch that ensues. Even if I\u2019m at the pool, Chardonnay in hand, having a cheerful conversation with a friend, I feel a bite, then the itch, and I begin to scratch. Soon, blood starts to run down my leg. How embarrassing! But that doesn\u2019t stop me. I\u2019ve lost all sophistication.<\/p>\n

Even my patio plants no longer expect to be watered. I can\u2019t go out there. The sneaky little insect never sleeps. How do the birds escape this assault? They are out there all day, every day, and seem to keep living life without any obvious stress. Soon, I may need to let the birdbath dry up.<\/p>\n

OK, Los Angeles, enough. Release the sterile mosquito males<\/a>! Hazmat attire, anyone?<\/p>\n

Connie Woodson, Studio City<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sept. 22, 2026 5 AM PT To the editor: I take no comfort in knowing that I am…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[37086,87056,4617,217,2072,185616,24710,14545,91929,185617,48,52,51,185619,47,50,49,63,91927,185618,22562],"class_list":["post-471969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alien","tag-bite","tag-chardonnay","tag-day","tag-editor","tag-fascinating-history","tag-hand","tag-impact","tag-insect","tag-insidious-itch","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-liz-sherwin","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-mosquito","tag-mosquito-hell","tag-pool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}