Birds, Not Mosquitoes
- I Ola Nā Manu Nahele - So The Forest Birds Thrive -
'anianiau on 'ōhiʻa © Jim Denny
Multi-Agency Partnership
Birds, Not Mosquitoes is a multi-agency partnership urgently working to save the native honeycreepers of Hawaiʻi from extinction. We plan to use common, naturally-occurring bacteria as a "mosquito birth control" to suppress mosquito populations in Hawaiʻi.
Please explore our website to learn more about the partnership, the birds being impacted, the mosquitoes transmitting avian malaria, and the Incompatible Insect Technique (mosquito birth control).
ʻi'iwi © Jim Denny
Mosquito Birth Control
Mosquitoes carry serious diseases, including avian malaria, threatening to drive many native Hawaiian honeycreepers to extinction in the next few years.
Researchers have developed a method to transfer a naturally-occurring “birth control” bacteria to local mosquitoes in a lab as a tool to solve this problem. Only male mosquitoes would be released, which don’t bite birds or people and therefore don’t transmit diseases. These male mosquitoes would mate with wild female mosquitoes, but their eggs would not hatch.
This safe, targeted technique could drastically reduce mosquitoes in the forests the honeycreepers call home and potentially save the forest birds from extinction.
Social Media
Connect with us over social media and strengthen your relationship with the native forest birds, Wolbachia IIT, and the BNM partnership.