Towards a More Comfortable Stay: Mosquito Project Update

We are excited to introduce Subam Kathet, a researcher from Molecular Attraction, who has joined us on Fregate Island to continue Rahul’s pioneering work on mosquito control. Subam will be living on the island for a year to advance the pheromone project, which uses environmentally safe dispensers to reduce mosquito populations without harmful pesticides.

These dispensers work in a simple but clever way: they release a natural blend of scents that confuse mosquitoes, disrupting their swarming and mating. This means fewer new mosquitoes are born, and the population drops over time. Best of all, the dispensers are safe for the environment, cost-effective, and only need replacing once every three months.

Over the past weeks, Subam, with the help of our conservation team, has deployed both beeswax and liquid pheromone dispensers across different habitats on the island and set up monitoring sites to track mosquito activity. Early results are promising, showing that this approach can effectively disrupt mosquito behavior and reduce future populations.

The next steps include expanding the treatment area with liquid pheromones and analyzing data from traps and larval surveys to better understand mosquito patterns. This work is laying the foundation for a sustainable strategy to manage mosquitoes and other biting insects on Fregate.

Stay tuned as this innovative research moves into its next phase!