The State Bird of Alaska

    Before I came to the Arctic, everyone who was familiar with Arctic summers warned me about the mosquitoes. Back during our orientation in Fairbanks in late March, we even had the chance to model some bug shirts to prep ourselves for the onslaught.

    Bug shirt.
    PolarTREC teacher Alicia Gillean models a bug shirt back in Fairbanks. She was lucky enough to escape most of the mosquitoes during her time at Toolik.

    State Bird.
    I’m not making this up. This pin verifies my assertion that the mosquitoes here are epic.

    Evidence

    Every good scientist needs to provide evidence to support their claims. Take a look at the pictures and video below and see if you agree with my statement that the mosquitoes in the Arctic are like a plague of biblical proportions...

    Swarm
    Swarm of mosquitoes in the tundra. Photo courtesy of Jesse Krause.

    Typical.
    Mosquitoes on Kate Michmerhuizen’s bug shirt while out in the field. This is typical.

    Check out this video of the mosquitoes in action on Team Spider’s own, Kiki Contreras.

    Author
    Date
    Location
    Toolik Field Station
    Weather Summary
    Sunny and beautiful, although buggy.
    Temperature
    65

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