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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Mosquitoes aren't just blood thirsty. They also have a sweet tooth, relying on plant nectar to get the sugar they need to survive. Exploiting this weakness, scientists have developed an environmentally friendly eradication method. The new, inexpensive technique tricks these annoying pests into gorging themselves on insecticides laced with a concoction that mimics the sweet-smelling scents and aromas that they find irresistible. It could bolster efforts to suppress malaria, Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases worldwide.
The researchers are presenting their work today at the 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
"The blend of chemicals that we use to attract mosquitoes is so powerful that they will ignore natural plant odors and attractants in order to get to our formulation," says Agenor Mafra-Neto, Ph.D. "From a mosquito's point of view, it's like having an irresistible chocolate shop on every corner. The product is so seductive that they will feed on it almost exclusively, even when it contains lethal doses of insecticide."
Conventional chemical insecticides used to control mosquitoes are used as cover sprays, frequently dispersed over wide areas. But this blanket spray approach exposes people and animals to potentially harmful compounds and can kill bees and other beneficial insects. In addition, residues of these sprays can contaminate soils and streams, as well as promote increased pesticide resistance. To overcome these issues, Mafra-Neto of ISCA Technologies and colleagues at several universities sought to create a more targeted approach using an insecticide potion spiked with a blend of semiochemicals, or chemical signals, that mosquitoes can't resist.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday August 25 2017, @12:32AM (2 children)
Or worse, breed mosquitoes that aren't susceptible to the pesticides. Can't we stop making the same mistake over and over?
Using this concoction as a lure is fine, but don't lace it with pesticides, just put it behind an electrified screen (bug zapper). Its hard to develop a resistance to 2000 volts.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday August 25 2017, @12:41AM
You won't get us, we've read the studies[1] on zapping living things in the presence of crazy chemicals, radioactivity, or genetic stuff ([1]Lee and Kirby, 1950 and later)
Great, just what we need, Super-Moquito ...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by TheLink on Friday August 25 2017, @06:38AM
2) There are zillions of blood sucking mosquitoes, it's likely there are enough mosquitoes that are not that attracted to this blend. So if this gets widespread use, eventually most mosquitoes will be immune to this concoction whether by not being attracted or not drinking a lethal dose etc.
In contrast it'll be better if the concoction smelled very much like humans. Having mosquitoes evolve to NOT want to head towards humans is a plus not a minus.
Surround your sweaty t-shirt and socks with bug zappers and maybe a fan in a suitable configuration. Have the mosquitoes in your area evolve to not being attracted to you ;).
My room has windows with meshes that prevent mosquitoes from getting in, so I used to leave a bug zapper close to one of my windows and have a fan blowing in my room so that air from my room would go out that window. By the mesh in that window I'd also put little trays filled with vegetable oil, or soapy water (to break the surface tension) as mosquito traps- and lots of mosquitoes will eventually drop in while flying against the mesh.
Now due to various clean ups (town council finally fixed the broken drains etc) there aren't as many mosquitoes. So I haven't done that sort of thing in a while.