Elephant mosquitoes devour Aedes aegypti larvae

The increasing spread of the chikungunya virus in Guangdong, China, has led scientists in the region to create a factory of voracious helpers to combat it: Toxorhynchites splendens.

Better known as “elephant mosquitoes,” these insatiable, two-centimeter-long predators assist medical science in an exercise of cannibalism, Bloomberg reports.

They don’t feed on blood.
The dietary preferences of the larvae of these peculiar mosquitoes are the key to this method. As their favorite food is Aedes aegypti, the insects that spread chikungunya, dengue, Zika, and yellow fever.

“These mosquitoes feed completely without blood and, as a result, are not considered harmful to human health. In fact, since their larvae feed on pest species and other aquatic insects, they are a potential countermeasure against the spread of mosquito-borne diseases,” indicates a study related to Toxorhynchites.

According to Zhang Dongjing, associate professor and technical director of one of these mosquito factories. A single elephant mosquito larva is capable of consuming up to 100 mosquitoes that carry chikungunya.

Chikungunya is a viral disease that can cause severe pain, headaches, and vomiting. The more than 6,000 cases reported in the last three weeks in Foshan (Guangdong) have forced experts to seek such alternatives to halt its spread.

With information from ActualidadRT.com

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