Using Mosquitoes’ Love of Tires Against Them – IOTW Report

Using Mosquitoes’ Love of Tires Against Them

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Gizmodo-

Mosquitoes love to breed inside discarded car tires. So why not use this against them? Such is the thinking of Canadian researchers who have developed a DIY mosquito trap that’s already proving its worth in field tests.

The trap is called Ovillanta, and it was developed by researchers from Laurentian University with help from Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health (plus a little money from the Canadian government).

The egg trap is constructed from two 20-inch sections of discarded rubber car tires. The bits of tire are fashioned into a mouth-like shape, and a fluid release is added to the bottom.Once it’s ready and hung on a wall or tree, a non-toxic solution is added. A chemical pheromone is added to attract the mosquitoes. A wooden strip or paper floats in the artificial pond, where the female lays her eggs.

Twice a week, the strip is removed so that it can be analyzed, and the eggs that have been collected are destroyed using fire or ethanol. The solution is recycled back into the tire, but over time it collects even more mosquito pheromones, making it even more irresistible. From a mosquito’s perspective, it’s actually quite diabolical.
 

 

13 Comments on Using Mosquitoes’ Love of Tires Against Them

  1. When my dad was young they used DDT around the farm.
    No mosquito’s. Animals had no fleas. There were no flys or moths.
    There is a lot of mosquito borne illness.

  2. If someone didn’t know better, one would get the idea that tires are very attractive to mosquitoes after reading this article.

    They’re not. It’s the water they catch and have no way to drain except evaporation.

    The resulting stagnant water is what is perfect for breeding in.

  3. This is like using a toy windmill to try and power the house airconditioner.

    You can’t wipe out a biblical proportion plague with a used tire and box of tissue paper.

    We need a national political figure to work with a chemical conglomerate to unleash Armageddon on this plague.

    Anything less is just fascist political theater.

  4. DWG is right – mosquitoes have millions of acres of swampland and other stagnant water sources to breed in, so this is kinda like trying to bail out Lake Superior with an eyedropper. Still, it was a nice thought, though. Canadians are nice people.

    🙂

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