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Thiruvananthapuram April 27 A solar mosquito destroyer that traps the insect in a transparent plastic contraption and fossilises it has earned a coveted India patent.

The invention has been put to use by leading hospitals to good effect, says Mr Mathews K. Mathew, the inventor from Kottayam district. He has been conducting researches in pest control for the last 12 years, all on his own.

Mosquitoes and houseflies as vectors are a serious public health concern and the existing control measures either suffer from drawbacks or are themselves blamed for causing unwelcome side effects.

How it works

The solar mosquito destroyer offers a cost-effective and environment-friendly solution to destroy mosquitoes. It works simple: attract the flies from a drainage/septic tank and trap them into the translucent top (`solar furnace'), where they perish in the heat of the Sun. Mosquitoes have low heat resistance capacity.

During summer and dry seasons, natural water resources dry up, denying a safe haven for mosquito larvae to grow.

The flies in turn get attracted to the comparatively cooler and humid homes. The chemosensory abilities guide the flies into septic/drainage tanks where they multiply by several folds.

The mosquito destroyer uses the fuming biogas escaping from these tanks, a big `turn on' for the flies, to trap and expose them to their death. But one caveat is in order: it has to be fitted in such a manner that the sunlight hits the solar furnace directly.

More Stories on : IPR | Science & Technology | Health | Kerala

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Patent for solar mosquito destroyer

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