Drones are biting back against Florida's mosquito problem

[midian182]

In brief: Drones have joined the unending fight against the mosquito problem in the US. A Florida-based company manufactures the devices, which are being used in almost half of all American states and Australia to control the disease-spreading insects.

A known vector for spreading diseases such as malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Zika, mosquitoes are more than just blood-sucking irritants. Some regions of the US are turning to modern technology in their fight against the problem. One of these is Broward County, Florida, which is using drones from Daytona Beach-based Leading Edge Aerial Technologies to spray for the bugs in difficult areas.

Prior to using the drones, technicians would have to enter Florida's marshes to spray Aedes mosquito breeding grounds, using a backpack blower. Not only is this dangerous for the person spraying the area, but it can also damage the environment through vehicles or technicians traversing the terrain. Leading Edge Aerial Technologies CEO Bill Reynolds told Fox Business that using drones was 12 times faster than conventional methods.

The drones carry 15-pound payloads of EPA-approved chemicals, made by a different company, that can cover three acres in a single flight. These chemicals activate bacteria in the mosquito's gut, eliminating larvae when they're in the water. Inspectors later visit the areas and test the water to assess the efficacy of the spray.

Drones were first used by Florida to tackle mosquitoes in 2013 when camera-equipped models were sent out to search for shallow pools of water, where the insects breed and reproduce.

Other regions that recently turned to drones to fight the mosquitoes include Orange and Santa Clara counties in California. AP writes that the common spraying methods in these regions involve using backpack sprayers, trucks, airplanes and helicopters. The drones are more precise treatments, able to reach hard-to-access areas, and avoid the need to disturb sensitive lands.

A vector ecologist for the Orange County district noted that a drone can treat 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of land in under two minutes, a task that would take more than an hour of hiking by a worker with a backpack.

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Drones are biting back against Florida's mosquito problem

 

[Uncle Al]

It all looks pretty good although when you're talking about wide areas a 3 acre coverage isn't all that large. Now, when we are talking about difficult to reach areas it's great but a larger coverage area would be ideal and perhaps in time they will be able to extend the coverage .....

 

[Squid Surprise]

It all looks pretty good although when you're talking about wide areas a 3 acre coverage isn't all that large. Now, when we are talking about difficult to reach areas it's great but a larger coverage area would be ideal and perhaps in time they will be able to extend the coverage .....

3 acres doesn't seem large with ONE drone... but I highly doubt we're talking about single-drone-users!

Send a few hundred drones and you could spray hectares of land every day...

 

[redgarl]

Using drones to spray insecticide...

 

[Northy]

Not sure why they aren't using genetic engineering like other places to target disease carrying mosquitoes. It has been crazy successful around my area. There's only a select one or two mozzie species that are bad, the hundreds of others are fine. There's still a zillion trying to eat you here, just no one is getting sick anymore.

 

[WaphleStomp]

A drop of inexpensive Phenolphthalein breaks the surface tension of water, causing the mosquito eggs and larva to sink and die. I'd rather see that used than insecticides because it's more discriminative, more effective, and less expensive. A few gallons in a light spray mist from a drone quickly flying over the glades could kill millions of mosquitos and break the cycle. And, it's repeatable.

 

[mailpup]

A drop of inexpensive Phenolphthalein breaks the surface tension of water, causing the mosquito eggs and larva to sink and die. I'd rather see that used than insecticides because it's more discriminative, more effective, and less expensive. A few gallons in a light spray mist from a drone quickly flying over the glades could kill millions of mosquitos and break the cycle. And, it's repeatable.

Why phenolphthalein specifically? What I mean is phenolphthalein is a solid until it is dissolved in alcohol (typically ethanol) and then mixed with water particularly when used as an indicator solution. Phenolphthalein is only slightly water soluble which is why it is first dissolved in alcohol. So what I'm saying is why not just use alcohol alone (or mixed with water) to break the surface tension? Is there another purpose the phenolphthalein serves?

 

[WaphleStomp]

Does alcohol break the surface tension of water? Phenolphthalein, as far as I know, especially in the minute quantities required to affect the glades, would likely not cause any harm to other critters. Alcohol, likely requiring larger quantities compared to Phenolphthalein, though biodegradeable, would cause problems for all life in the glades, thus affecting the entire ecosystem negatively.

 

[Endymio]

A drop of inexpensive Phenolphthalein breaks the surface tension of water, causing the mosquito eggs and larva to sink and die. I'd rather see that used than insecticides because it's more discriminative, more effective, and less expensive.

Except that it wouldn't work. From 2017:

"...New study finds mosquitoes don't just lay eggs in standing water....The scientists... estimate that up to 60 per cent of the Culex family do not lay eggs on the surface of water. Rather, they lay their eggs near boggy, swampy, watery areas, on leaves or just about anything that is just above or just near the water. This has big implications for mosquito management...."

 

[WaphleStomp]

Except that it wouldn't work. From 2017:

"...New study finds mosquitoes don't just lay eggs in standing water....The scientists... estimate that up to 60 per cent of the Culex family do not lay eggs on the surface of water. Rather, they lay their eggs near boggy, swampy, watery areas, on leaves or just about anything that is just above or just near the water. This has big implications for mosquito management...."

 

[mailpup]

Does alcohol break the surface tension of water? Phenolphthalein, as far as I know, especially in the minute quantities required to affect the glades, would likely not cause any harm to other critters. Alcohol, likely requiring larger quantities compared to Phenolphthalein, though biodegradeable, would cause problems for all life in the glades, thus affecting the entire ecosystem negatively.

What form of phenolphthalein are you speaking of? If you're speaking of drops, then it must be liquid. Phenolphthalein is not naturally a liquid. It is a solid. Since it is usually dissolved in alcohol to be effective then you have the alcohol problem. Also, do you know that phenolphthalein is harmless to flora and fauna or are you assuming? Frankly, I don't know if it is or isn't. If you do know, please so state.

There are other creatures that depend on that surface tension you want to break. Surface striders, for example. Interestingly, one of the things they feed on are mosquito larvae

 

[WaphleStomp]

What form of phenolphthalein are you speaking of? If you're speaking of drops, then it must be liquid. Phenolphthalein is not naturally a liquid. It is a solid. Since it is usually dissolved in alcohol to be effective then you have the alcohol problem. Also, do you know that phenolphthalein is harmless to flora and fauna or are you assuming? Frankly, I don't know if it is or isn't. If you do know, please so state.

There are other creatures that depend on that surface tension you want to break. Surface striders, for example. Interestingly, one of the things they feed on are mosquito larvae

Ok, this is becoming tedious and tiresome. If someone's going to test the concept it will be someone who's ready and willing research and discover answers to questions such as that. But this is a general forum, not an inquisition, so I'll simply stop responding now given your 18 seconds of wikipedia research has elevated you to expert and scoured any previous interest I had from this post.

 

[mailpup]

I'm sorry if you took it that way. I was hoping to get more of an explanation because at first blush it didn't make sense to me. Back in a long forgotten time I was a chemistry major (for awhile anyway) so I was going on my own limited knowledge, not wikipedia.

 

[Endymio]

Ok, this is becoming tedious and tiresome. If someone's going to test the concept it will be someone who's ready and willing research and discover answers to questions such as that. But this is a general forum, not an inquisition, so I'll simply stop responding now given your 18 seconds of wikipedia research has elevated you to expert and scoured any previous interest I had from this post.

Why so touchy? You're the one who presented it as a ready-made, proven effective solution. Now you admit it's just a hypothesis on your part -- and a hypothesis you're not willing to see even the most basic questions asked of.