Abstract
MUIRHEAD THOMSON1 has recorded the observations that DDT is not effective in the control of A. gambiœ due to its irritant effect on fed anophelines, which prevented them from resting long enough on treated surfaces to absorb a lethal dose. Various other workers have since published their findings, which indicate that this insecticide has either residual2,3, repellent4–6, irritant3,7 or fumigant6 effect on different species of mosquitoes. During experiments in a hyperendemic malarious village (A. letifer area) in Malaya, I sprayed8 the entire interior and exterior walls of all habitations three times within four months with a 5 per cent DDT solution in kerosene at the rate of 100 mgm. per sq. ft. After every treatment, the mosquito collection from the catching stations from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. was observed to be practically nil for two to four weeks, after which a few mosquitoes started to appear.
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References
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NAIR, C. DDT as a Residual Insecticide against A. letifer and A. maculatus in Malaya. Nature 167, 74–75 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/167074a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/167074a0
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