Tens of thousands of tiny, shrimp-like creatures called copepods will be released by the bucketful in mosquito hotspots around the state, including Morris and Passaic Counties.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher says copepods are native to the state…

“…But they don’t always go where we want them to go... because of development and other reasons.”

Under the program, places like old tires, roadside ditches and clogged downspouts where mosquitoes lay their eggs become cafeterias for crustaceans that eat the larvae before they hatch.

Fisher says it helps cut down on the use of pesticides and other chemicals.

“It meets the public’s needs for looking for more integrated pest management, for more solutions that are environmentally sound and this is probably one of the best.”

These copepods are brought up in the state’s insect-rearing lab in West Trenton where other bugs are also being raised for ecological combat.