Controlling mosquitoes.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Star30

No, I don't think I would want to be sprayed (even unintentionaly per say)with insecticide at any time especially not on holiday. When I think of going to Florida I think of beautiful ocean water.
The good thing, Florida counties do attempt mosquito control by budgeting for application of mosquito eating fish as michaelangelica nicely posted with #17 above.

Unfortunately the sprays either kill the fish or the food they live on.

You are sprayed every day of your life in one way or another.

[Michaelangelica]

Edible fish may be key to fighting malaria

A Kenyan-led study suggests the Nile tilapia -- a commonly eaten fish in Kenya -- can help fight malaria mosquitoes.

Annabel Howard and Francois Omlin of the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya, introduced Nile tilapia (Oreochronmis niloticus L) to abandoned fishponds in western Kenya.

The researchers then monitored pond life, comparing the restocked ponds with a nearby control pond. After 15 weeks the scientists found the fish had reduced both Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Anopheles funestus, the region's primary malaria vectors, by more than 94 percent, as well as decimating three quarters of the culicine mosquito population.

The findings suggest Kenyans can use the fish to limit mosquito populations, and also get food and income from them, the scientists said.

O. niloticus fish were so effective in reducing immature mosquito populations that there is likely to be a noticeable effect on the adult mosquito population in the area, Howard said, noting the control method is apparently sustainable, since the fish breed and provide a continuous population.

The research is available in the online journal BMC Public Health.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Publication date: 13 August 2007

Source: UPI-1-20070813-15222100-bc-kenya-malaria.xml

Edible fish may be key to fighting malaria

[Michaelangelica]

Why do mosquito traps have to be so expensive?

Then again, if Floria mothballed it's Spraying Air Force (SAF)
it could afford to buy one of these for everyone. evreyone
SV5000 SkeeterVac Mosquito Trap - 1.5 Acre


I don't like general bug-zappers they just stuff the environment for insect eating animals and birds

[LaurieAG]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Why do mosquito traps have to be so expensive?

Hello Michaelangelica,

I worked at an environmental resort once that had a network of solar powered CO2 mosquito traps. You might be a bit mistaken if you think that the traps are used for direct mosquito control purposes as opposed to identifying which areas required further treatment.

I would regularly talk to the Pest Control worker who would take the plastic cannisters from the traps to the local council for automatic counting and identification.

The main mosquito controls used was the continuous treatment of pools of water to sterilise, not kill, the mosquito larvae along with localised fogging in areas when things became unbearable 7 days after rain.

The machines are expensive because they are used as scientific survey instruments, not killing machines.

[Michaelangelica]

I don't like the idea of aerial sparying.
It is a shotgun approach killing all insects including good mosquitoes.
Thus altering the whole food-chain and ecology of a region.

I would be happier if spraying could be more precise and focused.

Here is an idea that involves NO spraying.

Darwin mosquito study could have global implications

Posted October 30, 2007 18:28:00

Researchers say a new mosquito study in the Northern Territory will play a key role in reducing debilitating viruses worldwide.

The world first study, taking place in the floodplains around Darwin, is assessing whether controlling swamp vegetation will help reduce the need for costly aerial spraying.

Researchers fear climate change and rising sea levels will heighten the global threat of disease carrying mosquitos. Medical entomologist, Dr Peter Whelan, says simpler and cheaper alternatives to aerial spraying are particularly important in developing nations.

"We're looking at different, alternate methods like burning and slashing the swamp to see if that's going to have an effect on the amount of eggs and the production from those eggs to mosquitos," he said.

Darwin mosquito study could have global implications ABC Darwin

Darwin mosquito study could have global implications

* Map: Darwin 0800

Researchers say a new mosquito study in the Northern Territory will play a key role in reducing debilitating viruses worldwide.

The world first study, taking place in the floodplains around Darwin, is assessing whether controlling swamp vegetation will help reduce the need for costly aerial spraying.

Darwin mosquito study could have global implications - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Michaelangelica]

Want to go into the Importing Business?
I found this in a Taiwan Trade Pages magazine I still get for some obscure reason
A mosquito trap by Lancer Biotech Co., Ltd.
China Manufacturers/Suppliers: Chinese Products from Taiwan/China Exporters Trade Directory: Asia Manufacturer/Supplier
That advertised address did not find it but I finally found it here
Lancer Biotech Co., Ltd. - 1. Bamboo Carbon Rice Cooker/Steamer Inner Pot 2. Dengue-Free Mosquito Catcher @ ttnet.net Supplier Homepage

1. Highly effective in controlling mosquitoes
2. Eco-friendly
3. New invention that incorporates state-of-the-art
biochemistry technology
4. We care about your life and health. It's everyone's
responsibility to combat dengue fever.
5. 3-meter effective range
6. Consumes no electricity; safe to operate; operates 24
hours a day
7. The herbal mosquito-trapping liquid is made of natural
herbal extracts, produces no smoke, and causes no harm
to humans and animals. With state-of-the-art
technology, it emits a human-like odor to attract
mosquitoes. This product is effective, safe to use, and
eco-friendly.
etc human-like odour ? Which human?

Some other stuff here
ttnet.net - Category Search -

[Michaelangelica]

A Ray-Gun for Mosquitoes?

The new vaccine is a departure from previous approaches, which have usually depended on proteins derived from only part of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous species of parasite that causes malaria.

Using vaccines based on whole living parasites had been on scientists' minds for several decades, after they discovered that volunteers built up high levels of protection to malaria after being exposed to mosquitoes containing live, radiation-weakened parasites. But manufacturing technology only recently has been developed to the point where it is possible to efficiently extract weakened parasites from their mosquito carriers in order to make a vaccine.

With their knowledge of measuring radiation doses for industrial processes such as medical equipment sterilization, NIST researchers have been lending their expertise for several years to Maryland-based biotech firm Sanaria Inc., which is creating the new vaccine. In the manufacturing process, live mosquitoes containing the parasite are exposed to gamma rays

Bug-Zapper: A Dose Of Radiation May Help Knock Out Malaria

[Michaelangelica]

is this of interest?
I can't see
HOW FAR AWAY CAN A MOSQUITO DETECT YOUR PRESENCE
World: HOW FAR AWAY CAN A MOSQUITO DETECT YOUR PRESENCE

[Michaelangelica]

The mosquito's elaborate "nose" consists of hundreds of hollow hair-like structures called sensilla attached to its antennae, maxillary palps and proboscis. The tips of these structures are perforated with thousands of tiny holes that let aromatic compounds penetrate to their interior, where they encounter thread-like extensions from neurons which are tuned to detect specific molecules.

Compared to the mosquito's antennae, which are designed to detect hundreds of different compounds, the study found that the maxillary palps are highly specialized. "The amazing thing that we found was that all the sensory hairs that line the bottom of the maxillary palps are identical," says Zwiebel. They are all attached to three neurons: one which is tuned to detect carbon dioxide; one which is tuned to detect octenol; and one which serves to enhance general olfactory reception.

Fighting Malaria By Tricking Mosquito's Sense Of Smell

The team found that humans and the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite share the same complex carbohydrate, heparan sulfate. In both humans and mosquitoes, heparan sulfate is a receptor for the malaria parasite, binding to the parasite and giving it quick and easy transport through the body. The team was led by Robert J. Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. ’59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer.

“The discovery allows us to think differently about preventing the disease,” Linhardt said. “If we can stop heparan sulfate from binding to the parasite in mosquitoes, we will not just be treating the disease, we will be stopping its spread completely.”

Malaria parasites are extremely finicky about their hosts, Linhardt explained. Birds, rodents, humans, and primates all can be infected with malaria, but each species is infected by a different species of mosquito — and each of those mosquitoes is infected by a different malaria parasite. In other words, there needs to be a perfect match at the molecular basis for malaria to spread from one species to another, Linhardt said. Researchers have long understood this deadly partnership, but the molecular basis for the match had never been determined.

“The discovery marks a paradigm shift in stopping malaria,”

Discovery Could Help Stop Malaria At Its Source -- The Mosquito

[DougF]

Here is a plan!

Making A Friendlier Mosquito
ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2004) — Genetically modified mosquitoes that cannot transmit malaria are one hope for battling the disease that still kills over one million people a year. But that plan faces some serious snags,

Making A Friendlier Mosquito
They should make one that won't bite