Efficacy of alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin applications to prevent Aedes breeding in tires

The efficacy of alpha-cypermethrin (Cyperthor) and lambda-cyhalothrin (Demand) to prevent mosquito larval colonization of water-containing receptacles was investigated using 2 differing applications in disused car tires in Darwin, Australia. Insecticide treatments were applied uniformly to the inside surfaces of 2 categories of tires: 1) dry tires that were partially filled with water 24 h after spraying and 2) wet tires partially filled with water prior to spraying. All mosquito larvae, pupae, and dead adults were collected from the treatment and control tires weekly over the 24-wk study period and were later identified to species in the laboratory. Control tires were colonized by Aedes notoscriptus in wk 2 and by Culex quinquefasciatus in wk 4. Aedes notoscriptus failed to colonize any alpha-cypermethrin-treated tires until wk 22 and did not colonize any lambda-cyhalothrin-treated tires during the 24-wk trial. Culex quinquefasciatus colonized alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin-treated tires from wk 11 and wk 15, respectively. These results indicate both insecticides using either application method can prevent colonization of Ae. notoscriptus for at least 20 wk and demonstrate great potential for the prevention of breeding in receptacles for other receptacle-breeding Aedes species, such as the dengue vectors, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus.