US unmanned aircraft to kill mosquitoes

The mosquito control agency in the Florida Keys in the southeastern United States has tested the method of killing harmful mosquitoes by using micro-drones equipped with infrared cameras.

This eagle-shaped aircraft will locate the lagoons where mosquitoes reproduce to spray the larvae and mosquitoes that harm as they are in their infancy.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a Maveric version of the fixed-wing, battery-powered, nearly 1kg battery manufactured by Condor Aerial, a North Carolina air traffic control company. Although it has the ability to shoot down mosquitoes from the sky with a laser, this is not a military aircraft. They were designed as unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, used for civilian purposes.

Condor chief executive Fred Culbertson said: "The aircraft can fly within 90 minutes in winds up to 18m / s. Elevation up to 8km, however, the best height for video quality is 60 to 112m. The infrared camera of the UAV can easily locate the puddles, the preferred mosquito breeding habitat because water and dry land have a temperature difference. "

According to the report, the Florida Keys have more than 40 mosquitoes, can transmit dengue fever, encephalitis, malaria and parasitic species living in dogs and cats. UAV test flight is scheduled to take place Aug. 26.

Humans have been fighting mosquitoes for thousands of years, but in recent times the war has increasingly used high technology and creativity to reduce the use of harmful insecticides to humans.

Scientists are researching ways to infiltrate mosquito societies by using a series of genetically engineered vermin, from infertile males, short-lived larvae to females who can not fly or not. Can smell the human, to destroy this hateful insect.