Published on August 30, 2024
Written by Julia Jacobo for ABC News
Researchers are trying to find ways to quell growing mosquito populations that spread disease without putting recovering populations of important pollinators like bees and butterflies at risk.
Pesticides are an important management tool for mosquito control as well as for other pests that impact agriculture, Laura Melissa Guzman, assistant professor of biological sciences and quantitative and computational biology at the University of Southern California, told ABC News. The sprays, which contain low concentrations of pesticide, have been developed to target the insect physiology to kill them, Jeff Riffell, a professor of biology in the Department of Neuroscience and Biology at the University of Washington, told ABC News.
“The only really acute way to control these diseases, such as West Nile, Zika, are actually through some of these insecticide sprays,” Riffell said.
The strategies in which the spraying occurs are intentional and well-planned, Riffell said, describing mosquito control efforts in the U.S. as “fantastic.” Health officials target only areas that are found to have high levels of mosquito activity, Riffell said.
There are various insecticides — some target the larvae stage, while others target adults, the stage in which the mosquitoes are actually biting people, Riffell said.
New research conducted by Riffell’s team studied the mating habits of mosquitoes and how targeting the mating “swarms,” in which females fly into large gatherings of males to mate, according to a paper published Friday in the scientific journal Current Biology.
“If you spray where these swarms are occurring, you actually really decrease, or decimate, the mosquito populations in these kind of urban areas,” Riffell said.
On Monday, the New York City health department began spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes and reduce the risk of West Nile virus, which has infected six people in the city so far. The infection rate typically peaks in August, according to the health department.
At least 33 states have reported cases of mosquito-borne illnesses so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pesticide sprays, which contain low concentrations of pesticide, have been developed to target the insect physiology to kill them, Jeff Riffell, a professor of biology in the Department of Neuroscience and Biology at the University of Washington