It might sound like an April Fool’s joke, but scientists say that the music of Skrillex could actually be an effective way to ward off mosquitoes.
A recent study published in Acta Tropica saw scientists playing the dubstep star’s 2010 hit ‘Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites’ to yellow fever mosquitoes in an attempt to investigate the effects.
The team explained: “Sound and its reception are crucial for reproduction, survival, and population maintenance of many animals.
“In insects, low-frequency vibrations facilitate sexual interactions, whereas noise disrupts the perception of signals from conspecifics [members of the same species] and hosts.”
The dubstep track was a mixture of extremely high and very low frequencies, which meant that it was chosen by scientists to see if EDM could prove effective in repelling the insects.
Scientists discovered that female adult mosquitoes were “entertained” by the song and often attacked humans less often than those insects which were not exposed to the song.
They also found that insects exposed to the track “copulated far less often” than those who had not listened to it.
The scientists explained: “The observation that such music can delay host attack, reduce blood feeding and disrupt mating provides new avenues for the development of music-based personal protective and control measures against Aedes-borne diseases.”
The yellow fever mosquito is usually found in tropical climes and are known for spreading deadly diseases such as the zika virus.
Skrillex is yet to comment on the study.