Florida to use drones for killing mosquitoes

In some places, pest control can often be difficult and might eventually lead to spreading of dangerous diseases. In order to keep pest population in check, Florida is introducing drones that will help kill mosquitoes.

In a war against mosquitoes, a mosquito control organization, Florida Keys Mosquito Control District will be using drones to spread larvicide over salt marches that the potentially infectious mosquitoes use as breeding grounds and might carry diseases like Zika virus and dengue.

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According to Florida’s public broadcasting station WJCT, the organization already makes use of drones to search for remote pools of standing water. Now, these drones will be able to carry seven to eight pounds of larvicide – which is enough to spray up to two acres – to treat the remote pools themselves, instead of using expensive helicopters.

Officials said that the drone usage for killing mosquitoes will serve as a high-tech attempt to keep the pests’ population under control, and will also save the state a great amount of money, according to Futurism.

“It’s only treating very small areas,” Florida Keys Mosquito Control District executive director Andrea Leal told WJCT. “We want to make sure that we’re precise with this. It’s really starting out, seeing exactly what this can do for us.”