BiteBytes

We created a smartphone application called BiteBytes as a tool for citizens to report mosquito activity. Citizen scientists can report presence and severity of mosquitoes, type of mosquito (Aedes, Culex, or unknown), and location and time of mosquito activity. Community participation using the smart phone app can help supplement expensive mosquito trapping. Crowd-sourced mosquito identification can be an additional source of information for monitoring and forecasting mosquito abundance anywhere that user engagement is high. Data generated from the app would allow cities to target key areas reduce mosquito abundance, and thus control the potential for the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. In addition to gathering data and enhancing the city mosquito-monitoring network, the website and app provide information on mosquitoes, the diseases mosquitoes transmit, and mosquito habitat control. We hope people will feel empowered by reporting mosquitoes and contributing to data collection in their city or county.