WUHAN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mosquitoes are the bane of summer. They buzz, bite and drive park-goers indoors. Now a growing number of Chinese cities are fighting back with smarter tools.
Lakeside parks in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, have deployed intelligent traps that mimic human breath, killing more than 70,000 mosquitoes in over 20 days, local authorities said.
Each trap, shaped like a black cylinder, emits carbon dioxide and light to attract mosquitoes, then sucks them into a sealed container where they die from dehydration.
"The machine releases carbon dioxide at a specific concentration to simulate human breathing," said Wang Zeming, a senior engineer at a major lake park in the city.
It also activates a specialized spectrum light for additional attraction, improving overall capture efficiency. An electronic screen on the device updates capture numbers in real time.
Wang noted that the method uses no chemical sprays and does not harm beneficial insects such as bees and dragonflies, making it an eco-friendly solution.
Wuhan, situated on the Yangtze River, is known for its hot summers and numerous lakes. The city has long struggled with mosquito populations, with lakeside parks particularly vulnerable.
The city's Jianghan district government selected two major parks for a pilot program, placing 10 traps in areas with dense vegetation and high humidity where mosquitoes breed easily, as well as near playgrounds and public cooling shelters. Each device covers 100 to 200 square meters.
Since the pilot program began in mid-July, the traps have killed more than 70,000 mosquitoes, said Jiang Tao, an official with the district urban management bureau.
Local authorities said they will adjust the program based on the devices' performance and step up routine mosquito-control efforts in residential communities and alleys.
Wuhan is not alone in embracing high-tech pest control. Beijing, Jinan and Xinjiang have also deployed similar traps.
In June, a laser mosquito zapper developed in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, went viral on overseas social media platforms. The device can lock onto a mosquito within 3 milliseconds and fire up to 30 laser shots per second, disabling the insect's wings instantly, faster than human eyes can follow.
In dengue-prone Guangzhou, the city's disease control and prevention center has teamed up with a company to develop a mosquito monitor powered by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. It can automatically lure, capture, identify and count mosquitoes, greatly cutting manual labor. More than 2,000 such devices have been deployed citywide, generating real-time mosquito density maps.
From breath-mimicking traps to high-precision laser zappers and AI-powered monitors, these made-in-China technologies share a common goal: replacing chemical sprays with smarter, greener solutions.
For the disease-carrying insect, every stage of its life -- from breeding and larval survival to maturation and overwintering -- is closely tied to factors such as rainfall, temperature and humidity.
Social media in China has been buzzing with the hashtag "#ThisYearMosquitoesMayGetEpicBoost." Experts said that with climate change bringing earlier warmth and more frequent rainfall, the mosquito season is lengthening.
The trend is global. Last October, mosquitoes were detected in Iceland for the first time, and climate warming is a possible reason.
With some of these Chinese inventions already reaching overseas markets, the smarter, greener anti-mosquito weapons are going beyond the country's borders.