Scientists have discovered that some single-celled microorganisms that are normally the food of mosquito larvae can be their own enemies. This raises the hope that mosquitoes can be controlled by spreading pathogens. That is, scientists say that mosquitoes can be destroyed by using certain microorganisms that mosquitoes can eat.
Asian tiger mosquitoes
When retreaded tyres were imported from Japan, the larvae and
eggs of the Asian tiger mosquito also entered the United States. Entomologists
from the University of California, Berkeley, were looking for a way to control
the Asian tiger mosquito when they discovered its larvae.
Asian tiger mosquitoes can cause many diseases such as yellow
fever and dengue fever. They can spread many types of viruses. The Asian tiger
mosquito is closely related to the main mosquito species that transmits yellow
fever, Aedes aegypti, but the Asian tiger mosquito is more aggressive and
cold-resistant than the Aedes aegypti. Therefore, it thrives in wetlands and
can cause serious health problems.
Wood-boring mosquitoes
The wood-boring mosquito, native to California, lays its eggs
in stagnant water in tree stumps. Its larvae feed on microorganisms that live
in the water. One of these is the single-celled mosquito, Lambornella,
which lives in wetlands.
Just as predators
develop defence mechanisms, Lambornella has developed defence
mechanisms. It seems that the best defence mechanism is to attack and kill its
enemies first. When the larvae arrive in the water they live in, they begin to
attack it.
If the larvae are released into the water or even into the
water they were in before, they immediately begin to multiply. They then seek
out the larvae, invade their bodies, become parasites, multiply and grow, and
eventually kill the larvae. Some of them continue to attack the remaining
larvae.
This attack can wipe
out the entire species of woodlouse mosquitoes within a few hours. Scientists
believe that just as they can kill woodlouse mosquitoes, they can also kill
other species of mosquitoes, especially the Asian tiger mosquito. Rather than
killing mosquitoes chemically, we can grow and use biological methods to
control them.
Yellow fever mosquitoes lay their eggs in ponds and rice
fields. Therefore, it is known that this project will be completely successful
only if we can create species of woodlouse mosquitoes that can detect the
substance they produce, even if it is very small, and start attacking the
larvae.