Inside Texas’s grand laboratory of dangerous mosquitoes

The Arbovirus-Entomology Laboratory of the Texas State Department of Public Health Services is the epicenter of the Lone Star State’s work to contain dangerous vector-borne diseases. | Umair Irfan/Vox Austin, Texas — Under a microscope, a mosquito can look stunning. Their blue-green iridescent scales, purple bands, and attractive spotted wings shimmer — dazzling enough to forget, for a moment, the insect lives to take a sip of your blood.  Mosquitoes range in size, from smaller than your pinky fingernail to a commanding presence in your palm, but it takes a skilled eye and a steady ha