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Mosquito-Eating Fish Among This Year's Effort To 'Fight the Bite'

Bowls of gambusia fish, which Miami-Dade and other counties in Florida use in mosquito control. The fish eat mosquito larvae.
Kate Stein
/
WLRN
Bowls of gambusia fish, which Miami-Dade and other counties in Florida use in mosquito control. The fish eat mosquito larvae.

This year, Miami-Dade County's arsenal of mosquito-fighting technology includes traps, spraying backpacks -- and mosquito-eating fish. 

The fish, each about the size of a paperclip, are called gambusia.

"The best treatment for any mosquitoes is killing the larvae. Preventing the larvae from emerging as adults," said Bill Petrie, the county's mosquito control director. "These fish, they just love to eat mosquito larvae. They'll eat them all day long."

Hear about mosquito control efforts underway in Miami-Dade County

On Friday, Miami-Dade's Mosquito Control Division spokesman Michael Mut and several representatives of the county's mosquito control efforts manned a table at the Stephen P. Clark Center and showed off the fish.

A page from a mosquito-themed coloring book available from Miami-Dade.
Credit Kate Stein / WLRN
/
WLRN
A page from a mosquito-themed coloring book available from Miami-Dade.

"We're giving residents the opportunity to see what we do up close," said Mut.

Other recent efforts include a family festival and coloring books to help kids help themselves avoid itchy bites from mosquitoes that can also carry diseases.

Read more: Mosquito Season Could Get Longer And More Hazardous To Your Health — Especially In Miami

Petrie said the fish are native to Florida and can be found in canals around Miami-Dade. County employees collect them and put them in abandoned swimming pools and other areas with standing water. That's in addition to traps and trucks that spray an organic, naturally occurring larvicide called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti). In January, the county also began releasing mosquitoes infected with a bacteria called Wolbachia, which prevents the mosquitoes' offspring from reaching maturity.

Bill Petrie, director of mosquito control for Miami-Dade County, shows off one of the traps used to catch and collect data on mosquitoes.
Credit Kate Stein / WLRN
/
WLRN
Bill Petrie, director of mosquito control for Miami-Dade County, shows off one of the traps used to catch and collect data on mosquitoes.

So far the county has not done any aerial spraying for adult mosquitoes, a practice that's come under fire from people worried about pesticide exposure.

Petrie said that's thanks in part to efforts that keep mosquito larvae from growing to adulthood.

"You're preventing the problem from occuring in the first place," he said.

Read more: Aerial Naled Spraying: Should Miami Beach Residents Worry About This Anti-Zika Effort?

He added that Miami-Dade residents (and people from other South Florida counties) can help control mosquitoes by draining pools, bromeliads and other places that collect water; and by wearing insect repellent and long-sleeved clothing.

Copyright 2018 WLRN 91.3 FM

Kate Stein can't quite explain what attracts her to South Florida. It's more than just the warm weather (although this Wisconsin native and Northwestern University graduate definitely appreciates the South Florida sunshine). It has a lot to do with being able to travel from the Everglades to Little Havana to Brickell without turning off 8th Street. It's also related to Stein's fantastic coworkers, whom she first got to know during a winter 2016 internship.Officially, Stein is WLRN's environment, data and transportation journalist. Privately, she uses her job as an excuse to rove around South Florida searching for stories à la Carl Hiaasen and Edna Buchanan. Regardless, Stein speaks Spanish and is always thrilled to run, explore and read.