As the weather turns warm in Taiwan, mosquitoes and biting midges are multiplying. Their infestation is causing serious concerns among members of the public. In Kaohsiung’s Liouguei District, where biting midges had been non-existent until three years ago, the midges have been proliferating. This year, the number of midges in the area is driving locals insane. To address this problem, the local District Office is planning to introduce wildlife ponds to schools of all levels as a natural way to curb the infestation.
Liouguei District Commissioner Sung Kui-lung says the District Office has developed short-term as well as long-term measures for disease prevention. Short-term measures include clearing vessels containing water and spraying pesticide. As the biting midges have been listed as a main target this year, the District Office will also be scraping off moss in places where water tends to accumulate to eliminate food sources for the midge larvae. In the long term, the District office will be helping every school in the area construct a wildlife pond using the one in Launong Elementary School as a model.
Conventional wisdom says the dragonfly is the natural arch-enemy of the biting midge. Many hope the dragonflies in the wildlife ponds will solve the problems raised by biting midges once and for all. However, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology’s Department of Plant Medicine Assistant Professor Chen Wen-hua analyzed the body sizes, flying behavior, active time and habitats of the two, and bluntly concluded that although wildlife ponds can help fight mosquitoes, they will not eliminate the biting midges.
Photo: Chen You-cheng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者陳祐誠
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY Yu-an Tu)
隨著台灣天氣轉熱,蚊子與小黑蚊暴增,令民眾不堪其擾。過去沒有小黑蚊的高雄市六龜區,居民在三年前發現蹤跡,到今年數量已多到讓人抓狂。區公所研擬對策,計畫將生態池推廣到各級學校,以自然方式抑制蚊蟲。
六龜區長宋貴龍表示,目前訂出短期與長期防疫方案。短期除維持積水容器整治、噴藥等做法,今年也把小黑蚊納入重點,刮除積水處的青苔,消滅小黑蚊幼蟲的食物來源;長期則是以荖濃國小的生態池為範本,幫助各級學校都設立一座。
民間相傳,蜻蜓是小黑蚊的最大天敵。民眾期待棲息在生態池的蜻蜓,能將小黑蚊一網打盡。不過屏東科技大學植物醫學系助理教授陳文華分析兩者的體型、飛行習性、出沒時間及居住環境,直言生態池對抗蚊子沒有問題,但無法消滅小黑蚊。(自由時報記者陳祐誠、林孟婷 )
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