The desert to the east of Palm Springs, California, is heaven for entomologists. Between date-palm fields irrigated with standing water and the inland Salton Sea buzz a bonanza of insects. Researcher Kenneth Linthicum makes his way through the low scrub, which his team has sprayed in places with the insecticide bifenthrin. He checks traps that spew carbon dioxide, a lure for mosquitoes. Linthicum is on a quest to battle these pesky creatures, particularly in vulnerable populations such as US troops stationed in Iraq and other desert areas. He is one of a handful of researchers on the front lines of an entomological battle, working to reduce the incidence of insect-borne diseases among the military. In particular, they are targeting the tiny sand-fly (genus Phlebotomus), which transmits the protozoan that causes the sometimes deadly disease leishmaniasis.
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