280 - Designing Tests for Formulated Larvicidal Products in Laboratory or Semi-Field Environments

Whether you’re at a district, a university, or a company – if you’re in the mosquito control business you’re aware of the need to test, re-test, and confirm efficacy of products, from larvicides, to adulticides, to repellents on a semi-regular basis. It’s equally important to make sure the testing is appropriate for the product and provides you the needed information. We are all aware that resistance to available public health chemicals is a problem, and testing field populations against formulated products is a useful way to discover possible issues early enough to prevent local resistance from becoming a larger problem. Testing larvicide products in the lab can seem near impossible requiring space, time, staff, resources, or equipment beyond what is feasible.  However, as districts are aware, testing products in the field can be challenging as well. Often, districts cannot leave untreated areas, and therefore cannot have a control group. Since the focus of a district is on protecting the public health and not treating known mosquito production area would go directly against that mission. Some districts have pool sized tanks or other equipment to assist their ability to test without endangering their population, but not all districts have this capacity. There are ways that districts, universities, or companies, can test products without putting populations at risk. These methods will be discussed in brief as well as the questions to ask as you design a test to ensure a reliable test which provides the needed data.