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By attaching trackers to a few captured hornets they were able to find all of the nests. If only eradicating mosquitoes was that easy.

by geor9e 2y ago

cogman10 2y ago
Eradicating mosquitoes is nearly that easy. At very least, significantly curtailing their population is something that's not terribly hard to do. Mosquitoes need standing water for their eggs to hatch. That significantly limits where the things can breed. There are more than a few water additives that will kill off a population of mosquitos. However, there's always at least some resistance to wide deployment of those programs because of "playing god". If you area suffers from mosquitos it's almost certainly because a group of anti-mosquito abatement folk got together to lobby against those programs being implemented.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- quesera 2y ago
  > Mosquitoes need standing water for their eggs to hatch. That significantly limits where the things can breed If you've spent any time in the eastern or northern United States, you'd realize that standing water is more or less ubiquitous. Mosquitos need very little water to breed. > If you area suffers from mosquitos it's almost certainly because a group of anti-mosquito abatement folk got together to lobby against those programs being implemented. Strong opinion, poorly informed.
  - brookst 2y ago
    So, like, why doesn’t Louisiana just, you know, get rid of the standing water? I’m reminded of the old “I don’t see why cholera is such a problem when everyone has chlorinated tap water” geniuses.
    - cogman10 2y ago
      That's a completely uncharitably reading of my comment. Mosquito abatement programs generally involve treating large swaths of area with larvicide at the right time, often by plane. The reason counties in state like Louisiana doesn't do that more frequently is the cost of the larvicide and plane charter along with the area that needs to be sprayed. That is a budget issue that ultimately also faces uphill battles because people will accuse the abatement program of wanting to just drain all the swamps (just like you did). These aren't impractical programs, they do cost money. Oh, and not for nothing, cholera is a problem when you leave water management up to people putting their septic tanks next to their well water. It's a problem of the lack of investment in water infrastructure. Much like mosquito management is something addressable with pubic investment.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - brookst 2y ago
        I apologize for not being clear that I was agreeing with you in a somewhat facetious way.
  - cogman10 2y ago
    I've seen first hand what happens when cities/counties put more funding and effort into mosquito abatement programs. The larvicide and pesticide treatments are highly effective and can be highly targeted either by airplane delivery or on foot treatments. It takes very little at the right time to have a huge impact on the mosquito population.
    - throwaway20359q 2y ago
      We could also encourage more healthier ecosystems with larger bird and fish populations. I've often noticed that areas with huge amounts of mosquitos have very few fish and few birds. Fish predate on the larvae and birds predate on the adults. I think climate change plays a role in my area as well by increasing the length of the breeding season.
      - quesera 2y ago
        > areas with huge amounts of mosquitos have very few fish and few birds This is contradicted by my entire lived experience. Where have you seen mosquitos without birds and other wildlife?
shiroiushi 2y ago
What ever happened to that project to build automated mosquito laser zappers? Didn't Bill Gates's foundation have a project to do this, by tracking them based on their wing-flapping frequency (which apparently is very particular to that species of mosquito) and then burning their wings off with a precisely targeted laser? This seems like a nice, pesticide-free way of eliminating these awful things.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Didn't Bill Gates's foundation have a project to do this, by tracking them based on their wing-flapping frequency (which apparently is very particular to that species of mosquito) and then burning their wings off with a precisely targeted laser This was never a serious proposal.

By attaching trackers to a few captured hornets they were able to find all of the nests. If only eradicating mosquitoes was that easy.

by geor9e 2y ago

By attaching trackers to a few captured hornets they were able to find all of the nests. If only eradicating mosquitoes was that easy.

cogman10 2y ago

Eradicating mosquitoes is nearly that easy. At very least, significantly curtailing their population is something that's not terribly hard to do. Mosquitoes need standing water for their eggs to hatch. That significantly limits where the things can breed. There are more than a few water additives that will kill off a population of mosquitos. However, there's always at least some resistance to wide deployment of those programs because of "playing god". If you area suffers from mosquitos it's almost certainly because a group of anti-mosquito abatement folk got together to lobby against those programs being implemented.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
quesera 2y ago
> Mosquitoes need standing water for their eggs to hatch. That significantly limits where the things can breed If you've spent any time in the eastern or northern United States, you'd realize that standing water is more or less ubiquitous. Mosquitos need very little water to breed. > If you area suffers from mosquitos it's almost certainly because a group of anti-mosquito abatement folk got together to lobby against those programs being implemented. Strong opinion, poorly informed.
- brookst 2y ago
  So, like, why doesn’t Louisiana just, you know, get rid of the standing water? I’m reminded of the old “I don’t see why cholera is such a problem when everyone has chlorinated tap water” geniuses.
  - cogman10 2y ago
    That's a completely uncharitably reading of my comment. Mosquito abatement programs generally involve treating large swaths of area with larvicide at the right time, often by plane. The reason counties in state like Louisiana doesn't do that more frequently is the cost of the larvicide and plane charter along with the area that needs to be sprayed. That is a budget issue that ultimately also faces uphill battles because people will accuse the abatement program of wanting to just drain all the swamps (just like you did). These aren't impractical programs, they do cost money. Oh, and not for nothing, cholera is a problem when you leave water management up to people putting their septic tanks next to their well water. It's a problem of the lack of investment in water infrastructure. Much like mosquito management is something addressable with pubic investment.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - brookst 2y ago
      I apologize for not being clear that I was agreeing with you in a somewhat facetious way.
- cogman10 2y ago
  I've seen first hand what happens when cities/counties put more funding and effort into mosquito abatement programs. The larvicide and pesticide treatments are highly effective and can be highly targeted either by airplane delivery or on foot treatments. It takes very little at the right time to have a huge impact on the mosquito population.
  - throwaway20359q 2y ago
    We could also encourage more healthier ecosystems with larger bird and fish populations. I've often noticed that areas with huge amounts of mosquitos have very few fish and few birds. Fish predate on the larvae and birds predate on the adults. I think climate change plays a role in my area as well by increasing the length of the breeding season.
    - quesera 2y ago
      > areas with huge amounts of mosquitos have very few fish and few birds This is contradicted by my entire lived experience. Where have you seen mosquitos without birds and other wildlife?

shiroiushi 2y ago

What ever happened to that project to build automated mosquito laser zappers? Didn't Bill Gates's foundation have a project to do this, by tracking them based on their wing-flapping frequency (which apparently is very particular to that species of mosquito) and then burning their wings off with a precisely targeted laser? This seems like a nice, pesticide-free way of eliminating these awful things.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Didn't Bill Gates's foundation have a project to do this, by tracking them based on their wing-flapping frequency (which apparently is very particular to that species of mosquito) and then burning their wings off with a precisely targeted laser This was never a serious proposal.