Beyond Pesticides shares Gardner’s mosquito control findings
Beyond Pesticides published a University of Maine media release about a study that found adding blackberry leaf litter in stormwater catch basins creates an “ecological trap” that entices mosquito females to lay eggs in sites unsuitable for larvae survival. This new “attract-and-kill’ mosquito control tool shows potential for preventing the breeding of mosquitoes that may carry insect-borne diseases, according to the release. “This suggests that ecologically based strategies could [be exploited] for environmentally safe and sustainable mosquito abatement,” says Allison Gardner, UMaine assistant professor of arthropod vector biology and lead author of the study.