MIAMI — The mosquitoes that can spread Zika are ­already buzzing among us. The US government could use some help figuring out where.

No experience is necessary for what the Department of Agriculture envisions as a nationwide experiment in citizen-science. Teenagers already have proven themselves up to the task in tryouts involving a small number of high school students and science teachers.

Now it’s time for the Invasive Mosquito Project to scale up and fast, since Zika has been linked to serious birth defects and health officials are preparing for the possibility of small US outbreaks. But there’s little money in government budgets to track its spread.

‘‘We don’t have a lot of data — good, solid data,’’ said John-Paul Mutebi, an entomologist with the US Centers for Disease Control.

Volunteers will collect mosquito eggs in their communities and upload data to populate an online map, which will provide real-time information about hot spots to help researchers and mosquito controllers respond.

Associated Press