With the new ‘Mosquito Alert App’ app, everyone is a little bit of a scientist. It is a European app, involving researchers from Leiden University, among others. Louie Krol is one of those mosquito experts, who is a member of the One-Health consortium. ,,For research, I go into meadows, nature reserves and communal areas. But it is more difficult to conduct research in cities, for example. I don’t just go into gardens. While those places are interesting, because many people live there who can experience mosquito nuisance and there can be a lot of suitable habitat where mosquito larvae live. Mosquito larvae need standing water, such as a planter, bucket or rain barrel.”
Louie Krol is researching mosquitoes.
© photo sam farmer list
In the app, users share photos of mosquitoes, so that it can be seen which species can be found where. This can be done by, for example, not completely flattening a dead mosquito and then photographing it. The app works with photo recognition. “We catch mosquitoes for research and put them in the freezer to kill, then you can still see details. But I understand that for non-researchers that goes a bit far. Don’t squeeze too hard, should be enough for the photo.”
—Two mosquitoes: on the left Culiseta annulata (large mosquito) and on the right Culex pipiens (common mosquito)
© photo sam farmer list
Fun
The app has been tested in Amstelveen and Leiden. “Now we hope that many Dutch people will use it so that we get a much better picture of mosquitoes in our country. This way of scientific research is great fun, because you involve ‘ordinary citizens’. They get a better picture of science. I think it’s fun to do with your children, for example.” Spaniards, among others, share photos and data in the app en masse. In Spain, for example, the distribution of the Asian tiger mosquito, which can transmit diseases, is being mapped.
Is it bad to kill mosquitoes? Krol thinks that’s okay. “If it bothers you at home, for example because they keep you from sleeping, that’s okay. I do that too. Of course I think mosquitoes have a place in our ecosystem. They are, among other things, food for animals, the larvae are eaten by other aquatic animals such as dragonfly larvae, fish and amphibians. But it is going too far for me to say that you should catch mosquitoes with a cup and put them outside. Just like you do with bees.”
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The researchers want to know where in cities there are many mosquitoes, where larvae live and how often and on which body part people are bitten. This can all be done in the app. “Where people are bitten is less interesting for my research, but there are other researchers who are looking at this. For example, itchy mosquito bites are an allergic reaction to the anticoagulant that mosquitoes inject, so that the blood remains drinkable. Some people react more violently to this than others. It is also possible that you are more allergic to one mosquito species than to another.” According to Krol, it is true that one person is found ‘tasty’ by mosquitoes than another. “This has to do with your co2 emissions and body odor, among other things.”
Diseases
Mosquitoes can spread diseases such as Dengue, Yellow Fever and Chikungunya. But the mosquitoes that spread these diseases and the diseases themselves do not occur here. The West Nile virus was recently observed for the first time in the Netherlands, near Utrecht. According to the RIVM, one person was infected with the virus in October, and six other infections were detected in November. This is a virus that is spread by the common mosquito (Culex pipiens) can be transmitted between birds, but humans are also infected by the mosquito. People cannot infect other people with the virus.
Researchers want to know more about the spread of diseases by mosquitoes. See also the box for this story. Because the more research is done on mosquitoes, the better invasive species can be combated. This reduces the chance that certain tropical diseases will occur here in the future.
But nuisance caused by the common mosquito may also decrease with more research. Krol: “If we know why there are many mosquitoes somewhere in the city, we can remove the cause and thus reduce mosquito nuisance.”
In addition to the app, mosquito nuisance in the Netherlands can also be reported via the website www.mosquitoradar.nl. This is a study by Wageningen University & Research. So far, no significant nuisance has been reported here. Earlier this university called for dead mosquitoes to be sent in, for example, a soft drink cap. There was such a massive response to this that there is enough research material for the time being. Dead mosquitoes may be sent in again from September.
What if mosquitoes in the garden drive you crazy? Krol advises to see if there is a place where there are many larvae. “For example, this is a bucket with water in it. If you tap it and you see small dots shoot away, you know that they are larvae. You can empty those pots, that makes a difference. If you have a pond with larvae, you can ensure that fish or amphibians come in, they eat those larvae.”
Insect screens on the windows and doors work best against nuisance in the house, Krol knows. “Make sure they can’t get in. If you are completely punctured, take a mosquito net. That works well.”
The app can be used for iPhones and Android phones and can be downloaded from the app stores.
Merlin Mulder
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