On Thursday, 16^th of January 2020, The Cyprus Institute (CyI) along with the Joint Services Health Unit of the British Forces Cyprus, Enalia Physis and the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), co-organised a workshop titled: “Everything you wanted to know about mosquitoes. Dare to ask!”. The workshop was held at the CUT’s premises in Limassol.

The aim of this workshop was to raise awareness about mosquitoes, especially of the “invasive” and the “tiger” mosquitoes – species that are not yet being spotted in Cyprus. Additionally, the workshop informed the general public on ways they can contact scientists, particularly, if they spot black and white mosquitoes.

The attendees had the opportunity to learn some helpful ways of getting rid of mosquitoes, as well as the actions that must be taken in order to protect themselves. This science café was attended by renowned international experts and scientists, who attempted to explain how this “compulsory” coexistence with mosquitoes can be improved. One of the highlights of the event, was Prof. Frederic Bartumeus’ presentation (from ICREA, Spain), of his mobile app called “Mosquito Alert”, which is free and can easily be used by citizens in order to record mosquitoes in Cyprus and beyond.

The event was attended by speakers including Kamil Erguler, Associate Research Scientist at the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C) of The Cyprus Institute, Dr Angeliki F. Martinou, Head of the Laboratory and PI of the Vector Ecology and Applied Entomology at the Joint Services Health Unit and Affiliate Research at CyI, Prof. Frederic Bartumeus, ICREA (Spain), Prof. Romeo Bellini CAA “G.Nicoli” (Italy), Prof. Alessandra della Torre, University of Sapienza (Italy), Dr Filiz Gunay, Research Assistant at Hacettepe University (Turkey), Dr Miguel Α. Miranda, Senior Lecturer of Zoology at the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain), Prof. Dušan Petrić, University of Novi Sad (Serbia), Dr Marlen Vasquez, Cyprus University of Technology, and William Wint, Managing director and Senior Analyst at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

The event was part of a bigger training school that took place between 13 and 17 of January at the Akrotiri Environment Centre organised by The Cyprus Institute, the Joint Services Health Unit, and Enalia Physis, and was funded within the framework of COST Action CA17108 «Aedes Invasive Mosquitoes» (AIM). Experts from many European countries participated (Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Romania, Albania, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, UK, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia) and the aim of the training school was to synchronise mosquito surveillance across Europe for 2020.