The Destruction of Mosquito Larvæ in Salt or Brackish Water

Abstract

A NUMBER of experiments on the destruction of mosquito larvæ by the well-known system of “surface oiling”, carried out at Hayling Island during the year 1921, supplied further evidence of the fact that this method is not one of universal application. The production of an unbroken film of a sufficiently lasting nature is sometimes an impossible task, notably in cases where the water surface is broken up by growths of reeds, etc., or is too freely exposed to the wind. In cases of this kind it is necessary to discard the oil film in favour of a “larvicide”, that is to say, a substance which, by mixing with the infested water, will destroy the larvæ.