ORGANIC ENRICHMENT OF BREEDING SOURCES FOR SUSTAINED PRODUCTIVITY OF MOSQUITOS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

Alfalfa pellets and chicken lay mash were used to obtain polluted wate r for continuous and sustained oviposition by Culex mosquitoes. Water in fiberglass tubs enriched with 0.1 and 0.25 percent (w/v) Of either material received heavy oviposition by gravid mosquitoes. The higher l evel of enrichment resulted in greater oviposition than lower concentr ations which in turn received significantly more oviposition than the controls with no enrichment. Oviposition continued in the enriched tub s for more than 43 days where Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex stigmat osoma constituted a major proportion of the eggs laid while Culex tars alis, as expected, oviposited at much lower rates than the other two s pecies. Supplemental enrichment of mosquito breeding sources with orga nic material can thus provide uniform and sustained availability of so me mosquito larvae for the evaluation of persistent control agents and other related studies.