Something old, something transgenic, or something fungal for mosquito control?
In spite of the current research emphasis on the use of transgenic mosquitoes, insecticides are still the main method for controlling malarial mosquitoes. Although pyrethroids are the compounds of choice, insecticide resistance is now threatening the effective life of these invaluable compounds. Two recent studies have re-focused interest on entomopathogenic fungi as useful alternatives to conventional insecticides, suggesting that these fungi could be used as alternative control methods, which would thus also prolong the effective lifetime of pyrethroids.
Ffrench-Constant
Richard H
RH
Department of Biology, University of Bath, Bath, UK, BA2 7AY. bssrfc@bath.ac.uk