Over the next few months, the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District will release more than 480,000 mosquitoes in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California.
In an era of spotted lanternfly invasions and “killer bees,” it’s understandable that news like that might spark fear in the public. But it’s actually a good thing that the public health department is releasing nearly half a million mosquitoes — because the plan will decimate the local mosquito population.
The pests in question are male mosquitoes, which are entirely harmless. Unlike their female counterparts, which draw blood, male mosquitoes subsist on plant nectar.
“Female mosquitoes are the only ones that bite us,” Anais Medina Diaz, San Gabriel Valley MVCD’s director of communications, told KNX News. “They need our blood to produce more eggs and more mosquitoes. Male mosquitoes do not bite, and they cannot transmit diseases.”
Every week, between now and October, the San Gabriel Valley MVCD will release 30,000 sterile male mosquitoes to stave off the Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquito.
The invasive pest — which landed in Southern California more than a decade ago — carries and spreads dengue, Zika, and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Although their transmission rate historically trends low, the yellow fever mosquito is particularly hard to kill because they lay drought-resistant eggs that can survive on very little water.
Fortunately, by mating with the sterile male mosquitoes, their eggs won’t hatch at all.
The sterile insect technique, or SIT, is a globally adopted public health strategy that has successfully eliminated regional pest populations of fruit flies and screwworms over the last 70 years.
Tristan Hallum, director of scientific programs at the agency, told KCRW News that some invasive mosquito populations have dropped by as much as 90% thanks to SIT.
Hallum said the goal is for them to “find some of these wild-type Aedes aegypti females, mate with them, and then the ensuing progeny ends up becoming sterile.”
Although there may be a short-term uptick in mosquitoes in the San Gabriel Valley in the coming weeks, Hallum urged people not to panic.
“While residents may visually see more mosquitoes in the area, Aedes mosquito biting pressure will gradually reduce over time,” Hallum said in a press release. “This program is species-specific and will not affect humans, pets, wildlife, or other insects, like bees or butterflies.”
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Featured image: Courtesy of the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District
