Toxorhynchites Rutilus Rutilus (Diptera: Culicidae): Field Studies on Dispersal and Oviposition in the Context of the Biocontrol of Urban Container-Breeding Mosquitoes

Abstract

Toxorhynchites rutilus rutilus is an autogenous species of mosquito whose larvae are predaceous on inhabitants of artificial and natural containers such as discarded tires and tree holes. Alter releases of 6-day-old, laboratory-reared adults into a substandard urban area of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, little predator oviposition was observed in artificial containers breeding Aedes aegypti. The preference of this sylvan species for tree holes for oviposition reduces its ability to locate artificial containers at ground level and therefore its usefulness for controlling urban container-breeding mosquitoes.