[Preliminary study on the biological control of dengue vectors by fish in Liouchyou Prefecture, Pingtung County, Taiwan].
An investigation made in May 1989 with questionnaires to 2,480 families in Liouchyou Prefecture, Pingtung County, showed that there were about 6,533 water containers in the whole village, of which 49.83% were used to store water for drinking, and the remaining 50.17% were used for washing clothes and watering plants. 32.42% of the residents volunteered to rear fish in the family water containers to control the mosquito population. During the period from April to October 1989, there was a total approximately 17,600 Gambusia affinis, Poecilia reticulata, Tilapia mossambica, and Sarotherodon niloticus released into the household water containers in the Liouchyou areas to control dengue vectors--Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. One month after the release, a comparison of the container index of Aedes larvae showed that among 530 containers with fish in them, the positive container index was 3.58; among the 3,219 containers without fish in them, it was 25.97. Furthermore, the positive container index without fish was as high as 97.32 in May 1989, and dropped to as low as 18.00 at the end of September 1989. This indicats that rearing fish to control household mosquitoes yielded significant results in the initial stage. Also, in some water containers Gambusia affinis and Porcilia reticulata lived longer than five months, and Gambusia affinis could eat 31.33 Aedes larvae/0.4078g fish per day on the average. It appears that the biological control of dengue vectors by fish in the Liouchyou areas would be advantageous.
Wang
C H
CH
Bureau of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substances Control, Environmental Protection Administration, Taipei, Republic of China.
Hwang
J S
JS
Lay
J R
JR
D000818:Animals; D003715:Dengue / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000379:methods*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D013624:Taiwan