Field release of Toxorhynchites splendens (Diptera; Culicidae) in controlling container breeding mosquitoes in a coastal village
Panicker, K.N.; Bai, M.G.
Indian Journal of Medical Research 77: 339-341
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5340 PMID: 6874015 Document Number: 198543
Larvae of Toxorhynchites splendens (Wied.) prey on other mosquitoes, while the adults are not blood-feeders. A single larva consumes an average of about 144 prey larvae during its development. Inoculative releases of T. splendens larvae were made in Pudupet, a coastal village about 15 km south-east of Pondicherry, India, for 6 months in 1980-81 for the control of container-breeding mosquitoes. Such releases resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of containers with mosquito breeding. The main prey mosquito species were Aedes aegypti (L.), Armigeres subalbatus (Coq.) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say. It was thought that such successful establishment in a totally new environment indicated that T. splendens could be exploited as a biological control agent.