This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that tested whether releasing mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria could reduce mosquito populations.

To reduce mosquito populations and the diseases that they carry, scientists have developed techniques to suppress mosquito fertility. One technique involves breeding male mosquitoes in labs and infecting them with Wolbachia bacteria. When these infected males mate with uninfected wild females, the females cannot produce viable offspring. The figure shows the percentage of mosquito eggs that hatched at sites where infected male mosquitoes were released (gray bars) or not released (white bars). The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.