Oxitec and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) announced that the third season of the FKMCD-Oxitec Mosquito Project will begin in early April 2023.
Phase one of the 2023 mosquito season will involve placement of Oxitec’s just-add-water mosquito boxes on private property of volunteer residents on Vaca Key, with mosquito populations also monitored on untreated comparison sites at other locations on Vaca Key and on Key Colony Beach. The maximum number of non-biting, male Oxitec mosquitoes expected to be released in 2023 is less than 3 million.
Deployments during the 2022 season confirmed that Oxitec male mosquitoes disperse throughout release areas, that they are able to find and mate with invasive Aedes aegypti females and can reduce the local abundance of Aedes aegypti.
Oxitec says its pest control technology is harmless to local ecosystems and is proven to control the disease-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito that threatens communities in Florida and other parts of the U.S.
FKMCD and Oxitec are holding the first webinar of their 2023 public educational webinar
series on Thursday, March 30 at 5 p.m. To register for this event and to view recordings of past webinars, please visit keysmosquitoproject.com/events.
