Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

In Hawaii, conservationists are deploying an (131) method to combat invasive mosquitoes threatening native honeycreepers, rare birds central to the islands’ ecosystems and culture. Once numbering over 50 species, only 17 honeycreepers remain, most endangered. Avian malaria, spread by mosquitoes (132) in 1826, is the leading cause of decline, pushing the birds higher into mountain refuges. Climate change, however, is enabling mosquitoes to spread into these cooler elevations, leaving honeycreepers with nowhere to go.

(133), the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and the multi-agency partnership Birds, Not Mosquitoes are using the incompatible insect technique (IIT). Male mosquitoes reared with a strain of the bacterium Wolbachia produce non-viable eggs when mating with wild females, gradually reducing mosquito populations. Since 2022, millions of lab-bred males have been released weekly on Maui and Kauai, (134) by helicopters and now also by drones. Drones offer safer, cheaper, and more flexible deployment, particularly in Hawaii’s remote, weather-challenged terrain. This marks the first global use of IIT for conservation rather than human health.

Results are expected within a year, and success could “buy time” for honeycreepers like the ʻakekeʻe—fewer than 100 remain—and even support the reintroduction of functionally extinct species such as the ʻakikiki. A recent study highlights the urgency, warning that (135) could close the window for recovery.

While IIT is ambitious and untested at this scale, it offers hope that honeycreepers may rebound, develop resistance, and regain genetic diversity. For conservationists like Dr. Chris Farmer of ABC, the mission is urgent and deeply personal: “If we don’t save these birds in this decade, they probably won’t be here for the future.”

In Hawaii, conservationists are deploying an (131) method to combat invasive mosquitoes threatening native honeycreepers, rare birds central to the islands’ ecosystems and culture.