Gnats Swarming Under Trees

It was a cold, sunny October day. Gnats are mosquitoes but they never bite people in this part of the country. Once, when I was in Switzerland, I had to ask people what the insects were that had been biting me. I'd never seen anything like them close up. They were mosquitoes and although I grew up seeing gnats swarming in the summer I never knew they were like mosquitoes. Probably the success of gnats helps to keep out varieties of mosquitoes that spread malaria. Could non-biting gnats be spread where mosquitoes do cause malaria and help to keep them under control there or would they start biting people in such climates and spread malaria? Or would they die from the heat? What if geneticists modified them to have a bright colour so people knew they were the good ones?
After I wrote this I found that there have been trials with a mosquito whose larva is predatory towards other mosquito larvae. That one is Toxorhynchites rutilis rutilis and both male and female are nectar feeders - they do not feed on blood. They are metallic purple, green and blue, with white markings. They have been used in field trials against mosquitoes that live in small temporary pools and tyres with pockets of water etc. Trials were quite successful though the last results quoted were from the end of the 1980s.
Toxorhynchites rutilis rutilis is one of the many types of mosquito found in the USA. I have to wonder if there are more non-biting mosquitoes in the world that might help to control others in a similar way to Toxorhynchites rutilis rutilis.

http://vector.ifas.ufl.edu/chapter_03.htm - this article describes thoroughly the habitats and control methods for mosquito species in the USA.
Extract:
Several materials in various formulations are labeled for mosquito larviciding, including some biorational pesticides, diptera-specific bacteria, insect growth regulators (IGR) and chitin synthesis inhibitors. Also labeled for mosquito control are conventional insecticides, several nonpetroleum oils and monomolecular film.

There was an article from Microscopy UK on mosquitoes available on the internet, by David B. Richman. He was at the University of Florida and mentioned that he had observed that the larvae of Toxorhynchites rutilis rutilis predated on other mosquito larvae.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• gnat
• mosquito
• swarming
• sunshine
• malaria
• genetic
• modification
• gm

[darkprince2713]

what colors atrrtract more gnats. comment on my homepage!!!

[andrewburbidge]

I saw elsewhere that fungus gnats are attracted to the colour yellow but there are many different sorts of gnat.

Some mosquitoes (gnats are mosquitoes) are attracted to a humming sound, something like the sound of a gnat, and there are commercial devices that make such a sound to divert them from people. Also, they are attracted to the smell of feet, so possibly a used pair of socks will attract them.

[RadiantMythology97]

Hit the gnats with the camera

[UPTHElRS]

I didn't know gnats were mosquitoes. Very intersting. And it makes sense that if they are attracted to a tone, they could be manioulated by a tone. Even more interesting.

Take Care,

Love

Louie

[andrewburbidge]

It's an introduction to thinking regarding control of mosquitoes that I put in the information.

If you produced a video of a fly eating something, even something unpleasant, some people would be interested in seeing. I saw a beetle eating corned beef but couldn't have got a good enough video of it.