Everybody Hates Mosquitoes
On a hot, humid summer day, I can’t be outside for two minutes before having to swat away mosquitoes who have an insatiable appetite for my sweet blood.
However, the minor annoyance of having to soothe my bites with calamine lotion is nothing compared to the major threat mosquitoes pose by spreading diseases like malaria – which cause at least one million deaths annually.
NC State’s Marian McCord is working with graduate student Nora Knaul and colleagues Michael Roe, Charles Apperson and Hoon Joo Lee, to stop the spread of malaria through a new type of mosquito netting that is much less advanced than you might imagine.
“Most mosquito nettings use some sort of pesticide on them – which is dangerous to manufacture and not that effective, since mosquitoes quickly become resistant to them,” McCord explains. “What we’re trying to do is find a way to injure mosquitoes without using toxic chemicals.”
Their solution? Soap! They soak mosquito netting in surfactant (or soapy) solution. Once the mosquitoes land on the surfactant-laced netting, the soapy substance is transferred to their legs, making it nearly impossible for them to land on water – where mosquitoes lay their larvae. No more larvae = no more mosquitoes!
See a video of mosquitoes ability to land on water before and after coming into contact with surfactant solution.
“Whenever you are doing a project like this that involves messing with animals or insects, there is usually some amount of pushback,” McCord says. “However, it seems pretty universal that everyone hates mosquitoes!”
Sounds like a plan to me!
