Topline:
Tens of thousands of sterilized male mosquitoes will be released in Southern California in June as part of a pilot program aimed at curbing the ankle-biting insect population and reducing the potential spread of diseases.
What species is being targeted? Next month, the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District plans to release 10 sterile aedes aegypti mosquitoes for every wild male that authorities believe is living in the target region, the Sunland-Tujunga area of L.A.
That could be up to 60,000 mosquitoes per week. These mosquitoes live near people and prefer to feed on them, and are more likely to spread viruses than other kinds of mosquitoes.
How will it work? The male mosquitoes are raised in a lab and sterilized with an X-ray machine. The non-biting sterile males will outcompete wild males by sheer number and mate with females, producing eggs that can’t hatch. When the females die off, there won’t be another generation.
Risk of West Nile remains: Keep your insect repellant handy. A different group, known as culex mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting West nile virus, and are not part of the sterile male pilot program.
This sounds familiar: The technique has been around since the 1950s, and was used by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to control the Mediterranean fruit fly and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to control the screwworm. But officials say it’s new for mosquito control.