Natural foe to check Aedes spread

Star: Fight fire with fire. Bring in a bigger mosquito from the jungle to feed on the young of its city cousins.
The larvae of one jungle variety, the Toxorhynchites splendens, consume larvae of other mosquito species, particularly the Aedes aegypti.
These cannibalistic mosquitoes are bigger in size but they do not attack people because they are not blood-suckers.
The adult Toxorhynchites splendens subsists on nectar and other natural carbohydrates.
USM Vector Control Research Unit coordinator Assoc Prof Zairi Jaal said the Toxorhynchites splendens breeds in tree crevices.
He suggested the mosquitoes be introduced in areas where they do not naturally occur, such as urban zones.
“Introducing the mosquito in the city may help check the breeding of Aedes in trees. It is not a long term measure but it can help in a small way,” he told The Star.
In a scientific paper on the Toxorhynchites, USM associate professor Dr Yap Han Heng wrote: “We believe we have a vegetarian which does no harm to any human being, and is at the same time a deadly foe to the young of other kinds of the genus (mosquitoes).”
As the Toxorhynchites splendens is a natural predator of Aedes larvae, Prof Zairi said, it would be a suitable agent to help fight the menace of dengue.
“The mosquito will not bite humans and will not transmit any disease. We can breed the larvae and introduce them into tree holes or bring in adult mosquitoes for them to reproduce,” he said.
There are dozens of species of Toxorhynchites around the world and they share a similar trait – their larvae have a voracious appetite for the young of other mosquitoes.