Susceptibility of Mosquitoes to Silica Gel Insecticides1

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Abstract
Adult female Anopheles quadrimaculatus Say, Culex fatigans Wied. and susceptible and DDT-resistant Aedes aegypti (L.) were exposed for periods of 1 hour to filter paper treated with silica gel insecticides, using the World Health Organization standard test kit for adult mosquitoes. Dosages of a silica aerogel (Dri-Die) as low as 50 mg./sq. ft. produced high mortalities in all species, the effectiveness being somewhat reduced in tests at 100% relative humidity. Susceptible and DDT-resistant strains were equally affected. Aqueous suspensions of this insecticide were less than half as effective as the dust. Death was due in part to desiccation and was frequently accompanied by the formation of exudates appearing as small, spherical or hemispherical masses on the sputum, legs or wings of the mosquitoes. Silikil-D dust and aqueous suspensions at high dosages exhibited little effectiveness against A. aegypti although mortality was greater at a high relative humidity.

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