Ticino is testing an unusual weapon against an unwelcome visitor: the Asian tiger mosquito. The insect, which can spread dengue and chikungunya fever, is abundant in the canton. Local researchers are now deploying sterilised males to curb the population, reported SRF.
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The method, first trialled in Morcote in 2024, proved highly effective, cutting mosquito numbers by over 90% in the isolated lakeside community. This year the project has expanded to more open areas, including a 12-hectare zone around a hotel complex and school in Losone in the canton of Ticino.
Field teams from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland release sterilised males by the hundred from plastic containers. Once airborne, they seek out females. Mating produces unfertilised eggs, swiftly reducing breeding rates. More than half a million sterile insects are to be dispersed by the end of September.
Eleonora Flacio, the biologist leading the project, told SRF that mosquito numbers in Losone have already fallen by 40%. Her aim is to match, or even surpass, the Morcote results. If all goes well, the population could be driven to zero, she said. Similar trials are under way in nearby Ascona.
If successful, the technique could offer a scalable, chemical-free way to control an invasive species whose spread across southern Europe has become a growing public-health headache.
The Asian tiger mosquito originally came from Southeast Asia and has spread via trade. It has been adapting successfully to cooler, temperate regions, where it is now able to hibernates over winter ready to emerge in summer.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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