Efficacy of Residual Pesticide–Treated Plant Saucers Against Aedes albopictus Larvae Under Semi–Field and Field Conditions

Plant saucers are ubiquitous, outdoor water-holding receptacles and are one of the most productive domestic mosquito habitats in the urban environment. Two kinds of commonly used plant saucers, clay and plastic, were manually treated with 3 residual insecticides, bifenthrin (Talstar® Professional), lambda-cyhalothrin (Lambda 9.7 CS), and tau-fluvalinate (Mavrik® Perimeter), at their maximum rates to assess their residual efficacy against Aedes albopictus larvae under semi–field and field conditions. Both clay and plastic saucers treated with bifenthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin provided weeks of control of 3rd instars of Ae. albopictus, whereas tau-fluvalinate provided only 1 day of control. Results from this study show that bifenthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin can provide good control of Ae. albopictus larvae for a considerable period of time and have great potential with regard to container mosquito management in the future.