An App to catch the tiger mosquito

As this summer has been especially cool, so far tiger mosquito presence has been low. But in recent days the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has been detected in more places. In Catalonia, it was first seen in Sant Cugat del Vallès in 2004. Since then it has spread to many cities and has recently reached Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia. However, as it mostly lives in private places (houses, gardens, balconies, etc..), it is very difficult to monitor and control by the government. Tigatrapp allows this task, traditionally delegated to the administration technical services and scientific management, to be shared by the general public.

The application, developed by the MoveLab  research group at the CSIC Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes for Android phone and tablet, allows citizens to collect data every time they see a tiger mosquito. As the application records the position, the system allows to map the presence of the tiger mosquito this summer and participating in the study of its dispersal pattern.

Tigatrapp belongs to the project Atrapa el Tigre!, initially created for primary school students, so over 200 schools in the province of Girona could participate with their families in this mosquito monitoring through intelligent mobile phone. Now, however, participation is open to everybody. To participate, you can send an email to info@atrapaeltigre.com, and you will be provided a password and instructions for downloading the App.

The tiger mosquito is an invasive species that comes from Southeast Asia and lives in urban areas. It is a potential transmitter of tropical viral diseases (such as Dengue) and it can be very annoying because of its aggressive bites.

Further information: Atrapa el Tigre!