World News for Students of English

31-07-2026 07:00

Around 600,000 male mosquitoes are being released across the Washington D.C. area this summer to fight rising mosquito populations.

Although releasing more insects seems counterintuitive, these male mosquitoes don’t bite humans because only females feed on blood to produce eggs.

The released males carry a bacterium called Wolbachia. When these infected males mate with local females, the incompatible bacterial strains stop the eggs from hatching, which makes the females infertile for life. As climate change creates warmer conditions, mosquitoes and the dangerous diseases they carry are expanding into new regions. Experts say that this method is completely safe for humans and local ecosystems, as the bacteria cannot infect people or predators like birds and fish.

By continuously releasing these non-biting males over a few weeks, local communities hope to significantly reduce mosquito populations and stop the spread of viruses.

Difficult words: counterintuitive (happening in a way that is opposite to what you would naturally expect), mate (to join together to produce young or eggs), incompatible (not able to work, exist, or combine successfully together), infertile (unable to produce young, eggs, or babies).

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