2023-06-20 08:52:07
Kao has developed a technology that can easily exterminate mosquitoes with an aqueous surfactant solution. It is said to bring mosquitoes to a knockdown state without using insecticidal ingredients.
Kao Personal Health Care Laboratories and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science Research Laboratory for Perceptual Neural Circuit Mechanisms have jointly attached an aqueous surfactant solution with low surface tension to mosquitoes to prevent their flight behavior and even knock them down. I found that I was forced to go down. Applying this knowledge, we have developed a technology that can easily exterminate mosquitoes simply by making a mist of an aqueous surfactant solution and spraying it on mosquitoes.
Behind the development is the global problem that mosquitoes carry serious infectious diseases such as dengue fever and malaria, causing serious damage to many people. Controlling the spread of mosquito-borne infectious diseases includes therapeutic drugs, prevention with vaccines and mosquito repellents, and mosquito control, and insecticides using pyrethroids are used in many areas where infectious diseases are endemic. It is
However, in recent years, it has been confirmed that mosquitoes that are resistant to pyrethroids and that do not die from insecticides are increasing in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, and there is a need for the development of a sustainable extermination method.
Kao’s aim was to “prevent the flight of mosquitoes, or prevent them from flying.” In 2020, we developed a technology that suppresses accretion on the skin and prevents mosquito bites by wetting the legs of mosquitoes with silicone oil. Thinking that it might be possible to change flight behavior, we focused on surfactants as an optimal means.
Surfactants have the function of acting on the boundary surface (interface) between substances to change their properties. can be mixed. Similarly, adding a surfactant to water lowers the surface tension of the aqueous solution, making it more compatible with water-repellent surfaces.
On the other hand, the surface of the mosquito’s body has a structure with very fine irregularities and is covered with a hydrophobic component such as wax, which makes it extremely difficult to absorb water. For this reason, the surface of the mosquito’s wings and body repels water, so it can lay eggs and emerge in water without getting wet even in the rain.
Mosquito wings and body surface observed with a scanning electron microscope
Kao focused on the characteristics of the body surface and wings of these mosquitoes. He found that by using the properties of surfactants that repel water and become more compatible with surfaces, it is possible to wet the hydrophobic surfaces of mosquitoes’ bodies that are less compatible with water.
In addition, we compared various surfactant aqueous solutions and found that using a surfactant with a high surface tension-lowering ability could effectively wet the surface of mosquitoes. Spraying water on mosquitoes does not affect their flight behavior because they repel water.
Mosquito wing wettability due to differences in surface tension
Kao, together with RIKEN, analyzed how mosquitoes flap their wings when water or an aqueous surfactant solution was applied, and confirmed their flight behavior. Mosquitoes maintain accurate flight and posture by flapping their wings faster than other flying insects. I’m considering it for the sake of it.
Mosquito flight behavior when its wings are wet
Furthermore, by attaching a liquid with a lower surface tension to the mosquito, it is said that the mosquito is brought to a knockdown state. Insects take in air containing oxygen through holes in their body surfaces called spiracles. It is thought that even contact with a liquid with very low surface tension can cause a knockdown state because oxygen cannot be taken in through the spiracles.
Mosquito knockdown effect by difference in surface tension of aqueous solution
Mosquitoes with resistance to pyrethroids have been confirmed, but surfactant aqueous solution is a physical insecticidal method that wets the mosquito’s body, so it is difficult to acquire resistance, and it is used for extermination of mosquitoes. It is assumed that continuous use can be expected. In the future, we aim to contribute to protecting people from mosquito-borne infectious diseases by implementing this technology.
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