Sagunto Releases 700,000 Sterile Male Mosquitoes to Fight Tiger Mosquito Without Pesticides
The Valencian Government's Agriculture Department has resumed its tiger mosquito control programme in Sagunto, releasing more than 700,000 sterilised males at three city locations through to early December.
For the third consecutive year, Sagunto is joining a regional pilot programme to tackle the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) without chemical products. The initiative, coordinated by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Livestock and Fisheries, will deploy 700,000 males sterilised through X-ray irradiation at three urban sites: Triángulo Umbral, Plaza Cronista Chabret and Plaza de l'Aljub, covering an area of roughly 7.72 hectares. Batches will be released two or three times a week — averaging around 18,500 mosquitoes — while trapping devices monitor population density until year's end. When sterile males mate with wild females, the resulting eggs fail to develop, gradually shrinking the colony without affecting other species. Studies across several Valencian municipalities in 2025 recorded an average 65% drop in eggs laid, with peaks above 75% in certain periods. The Sterile Insect Technique has decades of worldwide use and has eliminated outbreaks of this invasive species in parts of Asia and Africa since the 1950s. The tiger mosquito first arrived in Spain in 2004 and can spread dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya. According to elperiodicodeaqui.com.