From research conducted at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ

Researchers under Dr. Matthias Liess at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ in Leipzig have developed an effective method for fighting the insects. Female mosquitoes like to lay their eggs in small, recently formed bodies of waters such as puddles since these do not contain any amphipods or copepods that compete for the food of mosquito larva. “We introduced tiny crustaceans into these small bodies of water as natural competitors,” explains Liess. During field tests in the Elbe floodplains around Leipzig – and also in Cameroon – the method proved effective in keeping the mosquitoes from multiplying. Now researchers intend to breed crust aceans whose eggs can survive for a long time in a dr y state. Using these durable eggs, local residents can simply “inoculate” pools against mosquito plagues.

Andreas Fischer