Question

How can we control the breeding of mosquitoes?

Answer 1

Mosquitoes:

1. The scientific name of mosquitoes is Culicidae.
2. They are vectors and carriers of many deadly infectious diseases such as dengue, zika, etc.
3. They carry a disease pathogen by biting and sucking the blood of a diseased organism with the infectious pathogen and then they move to a healthy host organism where they release the pathogen while sucking blood.
4. The pathogen also completes part of its lifecycle inside the gut of mosquitoes.
5. Hence, stagnant water and unhygienic conditions can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which would later spread many diseases.

The following ways can be used to control the breeding of mosquitoes:

1. By eliminating breeding places for mosquitoes, such as stagnant water bodies, puddles, small ponds, etc.
2. By spraying insecticides such as DDT at breeding locations, adult as well as larvae mosquitoes can be killed.
3. By introducing fishes such as Gambusia in small ponds which specialize in eating mosquitoes.
4. The larvae and pupae of mosquitoes need air to breathe, hence water surface can be sprayed with oils and kerosene to control the breeding of mosquitoes.