Volcanic glass spray shows promise in controlling mosquitoes

Source - https://phys.org/news/2020-06-volcanic-glass-mosquitoes.html 

So, pesticides are bad.

I know, feel free to applaud for taking such a bold, controversial stand.

They're bad for pests, for us, and generally for the environment.

But there are a few pesticides that aren't terribly bad for us or the environment while still maintaining the 'really bad' nature for pests. There's diatomaceous earth, for example, which works by grinding away at insect exoskeletons but is relatively harmless to anything with skin and an endoskeleton.

In the linked article from phys.org, experimenters applied a spray of perlite, a volcanic glass, and water and measured its effectiveness in killing mosquitoes - primarily malaria-infected ones.

Their results suggest that perlite is highly effective - as high as 78% mortality rate six months after application, and the perlite seems to be safe for people in the huts. According to the article, the mechanism of mortality is that the perlite particles simply dehydrate the mosquito after they're picked up. The mosquitos also didn't show any indication of learning to avoid the perlite-sprayed walls or building up a tolerance to the perlite.

The article might say that perlite isn't a silver bullet, but early indications looks to me like it might be.