What are larvicides and adulticides?
. Control of larval mosquitoes is the backbone of most mosquito control programs in California. Larvicides are products used to reduce immature mosquito populations. They can be either biological or chemical products. Larvicides are applied directly to water sources that hold mosquito eggs and larvae. When used well, larvicides can help to reduce the overall mosquito population by limiting the number of new mosquitoes that are produced. Adulticides are products that rapidly reduce adult mosquito populations. This can become necessary when larval control measures are insufficient or not feasible. Adulticiding may be initiated when there is evidence of significant West Nile Virus transmission in a region. The most common method of adulticiding is ultra-low volume (ULV) spraying. ULV spraying is the process of putting very small amounts of liquid into the air as a fine mist of droplets. These droplets float on the air currents and quickly eliminate mosquitoes that come into contact with t
Larvicides are products used to kill immature mosquitoes. They can be either biological (such as toxin from specific bacteria that is lethal to mosquito larvae but not to other organisms) or chemical products, such as insect growth regulators, surface films, or organophosphates. Larvicides are applied directly to water sources that hold mosquito eggs or larvae. When used well, larvicides can help to reduce the overall mosquito by limiting the number of new mosquitoes that are produced.
Related Questions
- Are adulticides any better at killing mosquitoes than pesticides that attack larval mosquitoes (larvicides)?
- Are larvicides any better at killing mosquitoes than pesticides that attack adult mosquitoes (adulticides)?
- If we use adulticides for mosquito control now, does that mean we do not need to use mosquito larvicides?
