Mosquito Birth Control

Landscape-scale control of mosquitoes using the Incompatible Insect Technique has the potential to safely reduce the number of mosquitoes in Hawaii’s forests, reducing the likelihood that our forest birds will be impacted by avian malaria. Because there are different mosquito species in Hawai‘i and multiple tools that could be used for mosquito control, this topic can get confusing. Once you’ve learned about Hawaii’s forest birds and the mosquito species that harms them, we recommend learning about the non-genetic Incompatible Insect Technique being explored by project partners in Hawai‘i, as well as understanding the potential genetic tools that are not being explored by the project at this time. This information helps provide context about what is, and what is not, being worked on under the current scope of this project. We’ve also provided answers to Frequently Asked Questions, which you can read below or download in our project flyer.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What do mosquitoes have to do with Hawaii’s native birds?

Hawaii’s  native birds evolved in the absence of mosquitoes and avian malaria. Introduced bird species have high degrees of immunity to avian malaria and can continue living alongside mosquitoes at low elevations, but our native birds are more susceptible to the disease. Twenty-six species of honeycreepers have gone extinct in Hawaiʻi since the first arrival of Europeans, with many extinctions linked to disease. Most of the remaining native forest birds are now only found at high elevations where it is too cold for Culex mosquitoes and the avian malaria parasite. As our climate warms, mosquitoes are moving to higher elevations and the available habitat for our native forest birds is disappearing.

What is Incompatible Insect Technique?

The Incompatible Insect Technique interrupts reproduction and is used to reduce insect populations. It functions like birth control by making it impossible for male mosquitoes to produce viable offspring. Most mosquitoes (and many other insects) carry a type of bacteria called Wolbachia in their system. Males and females must carry the same strain in order to reproduce. By giving lab-reared mosquitoes a different strain of Wolbachia, eggs produced with wild mosquitoes do not hatch. 

Is this “birth control” method commonly used to control mosquitoes or has it been used previously?

Yes, this method has United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and is currently being used elsewhere in the U.S. and in other countries to reduce mosquito populations and disease transmission while enhancing public health and quality of life. A similar method has been used safely and effectively to control fruit flies in Hawaiʻi.

Isn’t this the same as GMO mosquitoes?

No. It is like birth control: the animal cannot reproduce, but none of the mosquitoes’ gene sequences, nor those of the Wolbachia bacteria, are altered.

Could a similar program help prevent public health problems related to mosquitoes, such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika viruses?

Yes. While dengue, Zika, and chikungunya are spread by different mosquito species – the ones called Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, the same “birth control” techniques being developed for Culex have already been used elsewhere in the United States for these Aedes species. The Hawaiʻi Department of Health is exploring these techniques and they could potentially be implemented in the future.

Can this “birth control” process be reversed?

Yes. Since this tool is not self-perpetuating in the wild, we can reverse the process simply by no longer releasing lab-reared mosquitoes with Wolbachia.