In a groundbreaking conservation effort, scientists in Hawaii are using drones to release thousands of sterile male mosquitoes into remote forests on islands like Maui and Kauai. These mosquitoes, infected with a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia, are unable to produce viable offspring when they mate with wild females. This technique, known as the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT), aims to drastically reduce mosquito populations without using harmful chemicals. Drones now play a key role in this project, offering safer and more efficient access to difficult terrain—each drone flight can release over 20,000 mosquitoes, a method now favored over traditional helicopter drops.
The goal is to protect Hawaii’s critically endangered honeycreepers—small forest birds like the ‘akikiki and kiwikiu—that are dying off due to avian malaria spread by invasive mosquitoes. As climate change pushes mosquito populations into higher elevations, native birds have nowhere left to escape. With only 17 honeycreeper species remaining, and some with fewer than 50 individuals left, scientists see this mosquito-control strategy as one of the last hopes to prevent extinction. Early results show promise, with mosquito populations in treated areas already beginning to decline. More