Mosquitoes Moving Into Apartment Complexes

Despite the significant drop in temperature lately, mosquitoes are roaming the country, and people living in large apartment complexes are particularly victimized, experts say.

Mosquitoes usually go into hibernation during the winter in damp places such as sewage systems, but since the late 1980s, they have remained near apartment buildings, where the warmth lets them to live through the winter.

Lee Won-ja of the National Institute of Health said mosquitoes were moving into underground parking lots at apartment complexes and had ready access to elevators and sewage drains.

Experts say that mosquitoes can remain active as long as the temperature is above 18 degrees centigrade (64 degrees Fahren-heit). The only way to deter mosquitoes, they say, is with insecticides. Mrs. Lee said it was important to make sure that there was no stagnant water in underground parking lots where mosquitoes can lay eggs.