© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
8:
21-26, 2015
DOI 10.1515/hppj-2015-0004
1
Directorate of Plant Produce Protection, Ministry of
Rural Development and Food, Greece
2
Laboratory of Pesticide Science, Agricultural Univer-
sity of Athens, 75 Iera odos Str., GR-118 55 Athens,
Greece
3
Laboratory of Biological Control of Pesticides, Benaki
Phytopathological Institute, 8 St. Delta Str., GR-145 61
Kifissia, Attica, Greece
* Corresponding author:
Evaluation of Aquatain
TM
monomolecular surface film against
mosquito larvae of
Culex pipiens
in a full-grown rice field in
Greece
I. Kioulos
1,2*
and G. Koliopoulos
3
Summary
The impact of the monomolecular surface film Aquatain
TM
against mosquito larvae was
tested in a rice field in Central Greece. Aquatain
TM
was poured in a 1.2 hectare rice paddy along the one
side of the field. Laboratory reared mosquito larvae of
Culex pipiens
were introduced into cages placed
in three different transects along the short side of the rice paddy. Larval mortality was counted 3, 6, 15
and 25 days after application. In the line located closer to the site of Aquatain
TM
application, larval mor-
tality ranged from 100% to 70%, 25 days after application. Mortality ranged from 88% to 25% in the
middle transect and from 42%, to 10% in the more distant line. The results indicated that Aquatain
TM
provides sufficient larval control in wide mosquito larval habitats.
Introduction
Mosquitoes are the most important insects
of public health due to the pathogens they
transmit. Mosquito larvae require water to
breed. Larval habitats vary among exten-
sive surfaces with fresh or brackish water
to small containers (used tyres). In agricul-
tural areas, rice fields are often the most im-
portant extensive mosquito larval breed-
ing sites for both culicines and anophelines,
vectors of serious human diseases (Lacey
and Lacey, 1990).
Rice cultivation in Greece covers some
30.000 hectares every year, grown under
constant flooding (FAOSTAT, 2012). In are-
as with rice cultivation, mosquito bites im-
pede human activities, especially at dusk.
Moreover, in rice paddies many Culicinae
and Anophelinae mosquito species prolif-
erate including the main malaria vector in
Greece,
Anopheles sacharovi
(Voyadjoglou-
Samanidou
et al.
, 1989). Mosquito control in
rice paddies is currently performed by aeri-
al spraying of larvicides after a specific local
authorization and under the supervision of
the authorities, as an exception to the pro-
hibition of aerial application of pesticides
in EU on the grounds of the threat posed
on public health by these breeding sites of
mosquitoes. The effectiveness of the ap-
plied larvicides is highly impeded by vege-
tation, especially when rice plants are full-
grown.
A method to overcome such problems
can be the use of alternative to biocides
larvicidal agents which spreads efficiently
covering the aquatic surface without accu-
mulating around debris or vegetation. Such
a solution can be the use of monomolecular
surface films that can be effective on killing
mosquito larvae and pupae physically and
furthermore non-toxic and safe to the envi-
ronment (Reiter, 1978; Das
et al.
, 1986; Bat-
ra
et al.
, 2006; Bashir
et al.
, 2008). Aquatain
TM
is a silicone-based monomolecular surface
film and its larvicidal and pupicidal proper-
ties have been well documented in the lab-
oratory (Bukhari and Knols, 2009; Webb and
Russell, 2009). Mosquito control potential
of Aquatain
TM
has also been investigated in
