11-7 IAT Minnows

There is always a reason for hope. I saw this article from agweekly.com that said Doctoral student Ryan Watchorn has been busy this summer investigating the use of fathead minnows to control mosquito larvae in ponds in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. More specifically, Watchorn would like to target the larvae of the mosquito species which can carry the West Nile virus. That sounds brilliant doesn't it. I mean think about the fact that the most common way of controlling mosquitoes is with some forms of pesticides which are very expensive to apply and obviously don't do much good for the environment. So breed a bunch of minnows that will gobble up mosquito larvae... problem solved. But wait. There could be a hitch in this giddyup according to entomology expert Jody Ellis from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture: "There are always checks and balances and cautions when you are introducing something to take care of something else. Sometimes it works out great and sometimes things can go awry. That's why, as a scientist, and I know you can appreciate this is a fellow scientist, I am hesitant to say anything about this particular thing."