Together with the cabs
The Asian tiger mosquito has arrived in Bühl. In order to prevent its further spread, the city relies on preventive control. That is also required.
Photo: Björn Pluskota/Kabs
Bühl is now taking action against the Asian tiger mosquito. The city has commissioned the municipal action group to combat the mosquito plague (Kabs) to combat the species, which originates from Southeast Asia. The association is active from the end of April to the end of September and, according to the city administration, also works together with the health department.
Xenia Augsten is the spokeswoman for the Kabs. At the request of the editors, the biologist reports on 16 safe populations in the Kabs area, and Bühl is one of them.
The small population was first detected last year, south of the monastery gardens of Maria Hilf. According to Augsten, the number of finds made in more than four weeks is reliable proof: “We had positive finds that were independent of one another due to the distance between the randomly positioned traps.”
First tiger mosquito found in Germany in 2007
Albania reported the first European occurrence in 1979. About ten years later the tiger mosquito had arrived in Genoa. According to the Federal Environment Agency, it was first detected in Germany in 2007. According to Augsten, the fact that it is now spreading in the Upper Rhine Graben is due to the prevailing climatic conditions.
The biologist explains how important it is to combat it with the sentence: “You don’t want to have the tiger mosquito in your own garden.” In a press release, the city administration writes of a not inconsiderable potential health risk. The tiger mosquito can transmit a variety of pathogens such as dengue, zika, chikungunya or West Nile virus to humans.
Active ingredient kills mosquito larvae
How is spread prevented? The focus of control is on the breeding grounds of the tiger mosquito. This can be water accumulations in flower pot saucers, bird baths, gutters or open rain barrels.
If you want to prevent a colonization, you can check the garden, balcony or window sills for possible breeding sites at the beginning of spring and avoid water accumulation over the summer as much as possible.
City of Bühl: Breeding sites should be treated biologically
Where this is not possible, for example when water accumulations in summer are to be used to water the plants in the garden, regular biological treatment of the breeding sites is necessary, according to the city. The active ingredient used from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis specifically kills mosquito larvae. It is harmless for other insect groups such as bees as well as for domestic animals, hedgehogs, birds and humans.
The breeding sites are not easy to identify, as the tiger mosquito uses even the smallest water-filled cavities. Therefore a trained eye is necessary. Property owners whose property is in a distribution area of the tiger mosquito are informed in advance of the fight. Those affected do not incur any costs for the Kabs deployment. An on-site inspection usually takes a maximum of 15 minutes.
Bühl relies on the help of the population
In order to identify other possible distribution areas at an early stage, suspected tiger mosquito reports from the population are helpful.
Relatively small compared to the native mosquito, the tiger mosquito is diurnal, stinging, and recognizable by its black and white pattern and a distinctive white and silvery line running from head to back.
Above all, photos help to assess whether it is an Asian tiger mosquito. To report a sighting or if you have any questions, please contact the Kabs, [email protected].