Seeing red at JCU lab

November 2016

Mark, release, recapture studies are commonly carried out by ecologists to estimate population dynamics of insects, fish and other animals, or to monitor how far a species has moved and how long they live. Our MRR in Innisfail East aimed to better understand the behaviour of male Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The study involved releasing male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes only (males don’t bite) that were marked with a food dye (Rhodamine B). The mosquitoes were released in small identified neighbourhoods and then recaptured through a network of traps to see how far they have flown from the release point, in what time and if they have mated with local female Aedes aegypti in that time.