The people-plaguing Asian tiger mosquito, or Aedes albopictus, typically lays its eggs in stagnant water. A scientist in Australia has come up with an insecticide-free way to control a particularly pesky species of mosquito. The approach involves two things: deploying a decidedly low-tech mosquito trap called a GAT and getting to know your neighbors. GAT stands for Gravid Aedes Trap. Aedes is short for Aedes albopictus , known colloquially as the Asian tiger mosquito, which bites aggressively night and day. The trap doesn’t look particularly impressive — it’s basically three plastic buckets stacked together. The top and bottom buckets are black. The mosquitoes fly into the trap through a hole in in the top bucket, but they seem to have a hard time flying back out through the hole. To make matters worse (for the mosquito) you can dangle a piece of sticky paper inside the top bucket to catch a wayward pest that happens to land there. A simple trap known as a GAT may help neighborhoods get rid of the Asian tiger mosquito, an aggressive biter. The bottom bucket contains water with some rotting grass floating in it. Aedes mosquitoes typically lay their eggs in stagnant water. […]
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