ABSTRACT This paper argues that mosquitoes help shape urban residents’ perspectives on and interactions with their human neighbours and the larger physical environment. A total of twenty-two residents of six Washington, D.C.-area neighbourhoods participated in interviews about mosquito management and community environmental issues. Participants came from households enrolled in a larger study about mosquito ecology and management. This and other studies have found that conventional mosquito-prevention education has mixed and sometimes counterproductive or unexpected impacts on resident attitudes and practices towards mosquito management. We found that residents constructed lay ecological knowledge to explain the place of mosquitoes in shifting urban socio-natures. Participants’ relational understanding of mosquitoes indicates that management interventions focusing on individual education and private space are insufficient. Overall, residents expressed concern about changing numbers, species, and vector potential of mosquitoes. They reported altering their own use of outdoor spaces due in part to concerns about mosquitoes but also expressed longing for renewed social and environmental engagement. Many participants also suspected their neighbours of practices that worsened infestations. To reshape traditional public health strategies, this paper proposes that health educators pursue community-based strategies that build upon residents’ lay knowledge and concerns, which may inspire engagement with urban socio-natures beyond their own backyards.

中文翻译：

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通过蚊子了解自然和社区：通过非传染媒介生态重新规划害虫管理

摘要 本文认为，蚊子有助于塑造城市居民对其人类邻居和更大物理环境的看法和互动。华盛顿特区六个街区共有 22 名居民参加了有关蚊子管理和社区环境问题的采访。参与者来自参加了一项关于蚊子生态和管理的更大研究的家庭。这项研究和其他研究发现，传统的蚊子预防教育对居民对蚊子管理的态度和做法产生了混合的、有时会适得其反或意想不到的影响。我们发现居民构建了外行生态知识来解释蚊子在不断变化的城市社会自然中的位置。参与者对蚊子的相关理解表明，侧重于个体教育和私人空间的管理干预是不够的。总体而言，居民对蚊子数量、种类和病媒潜力的变化表示担忧。他们报告说，部分原因是出于对蚊子的担忧，他们改变了自己对户外空间的使用，但也表达了对重新参与社会和环境的渴望。许多参与者还怀疑他们的邻居有加剧虫害的做法。为了重塑传统的公共卫生战略，本文建议健康教育者追求以社区为基础的战略，以居民的非专业知识和关注为基础，这可能会激发人们对他们自己后院以外的城市社会自然的参与。