A lazy-as-hell male Aedes aegypti mosquito.Photo: Geoffrey M. Attardo, University of California, Davis (Journal of Insect Science)
“Male mosquitoes are really lazy. They don’t like to fly much,” Hansen told Gizmodo. “Over a lifetime, they’ll fly up to 100 meters, 200 meters, but not more.”
Because of that laziness, eradication campaigns will need to get the sterile mosquitoes as close to the action as possible. Using aerial drones might help, but we’ll still need to make sure that they’re stored, packaged, and released safely, without accidentally killing or maiming them.
So Hansen and his team conducted experiments in the lab, hoping to find the ideal shipping conditions for the mosquitoes. They tested a variety of temperatures to keep the insects sluggish. They also tested how tightly they could pack mosquitoes into various syringe sizes. Then they took things one step further and mailed thousands of bugs from New Mexico to their colleagues over at the University of California, Davis.
The mosquitoes were generally fine with being kept chilled at a wide range of temperatures, though 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius) appeared to be ideal. And in the lab, it initially didn’t seem like there was any major difference in the survival rate when it came to how tightly packed they were. But things changed in the live test.
“It turns out that the highly compacted mosquitoes survived the trip better than the loosely packed ones did,” said Hansen. “We think this is because the vibrations of the plane damaged the loosely packed mosquitoes.”
The team next plans to test out their theory that vibrations cause more deaths in the loosely packed groups. They also hope to conduct live trials of shipped mosquitoes to ensure that the cramped arrangements aren’t cramping the mosquitoes’ mating prowess.
“We’re going to work with our physical science lab here at New Mexico State, since they have vibration tables they use to make electronics vibration-proof,” Hansen said.
And if you’re wondering, yes, it’s quite legal to send mosquitoes (and other bugs) through the U.S. Postal Service, so long as you follow their rules.
[Journal of Insect Science]
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