Nature is magnificent, full of diverse, bizarre flora as well as fauna.
Some creatures are useful for us while some create hindrance for our healthy living.
These disturbing elements "mosquitoes" play a very crucial role in making our life unhealthy.
Mosquitoes are vectors of several diseases and carry parasites of malaria, filaria, yellow fever etc.
They breed in all sorts of stagnant water and shallow weed infested ponds, swamps, pits, gutters and all other kinds of inland water bodies.
Different species of mosquitoes prefer different places for breeding.
During last few years DDT and other insecticides have been used for controlling mosquito menace but these chemicals caused many ill-effects on the human health.
Fish are a natural enemy of mosquito larvae and eggs hence, is a good ecological means of bilogical control practiced since olden times.
Sveral species of fresh water fishes have been used for controlling the population of mosquitoes.
These fishes are termed as "LARVIVOROUS FISHES".
For a fish to be used as a larvivorous fish it must contain following characters: 1.
It much be of small size so as to move freely, 2.
It should be hardy fish,surviving in deep as well as in shallow water, 3.
It should breed freely in confined waters, 4.
It should be a surface feeder and carnivorous in habit, 5.
It should have no food value.
The eggs, larvae and adults of mosquitoes form excellent food for the fishes.
Some fishes feed on mosquitoes throughout their life while others prefer to feed on them for only a particular period of their life.
The fishes that feed on mosquitoes throughout their life are basically used for larvicidal purposes of bilogical control.
There are several exotic as well as indigenous species of fishes that are good biocontrol agents.
Exotic Species Caraassius auratus, Lebistes sp.
, Gambusia offinis.
Indigenous Species Notopterus, Oxygaster, Danio, Anabas, Mugil etc.
Biological control with the help of fishes is the most practical and cheap method.
Fishes belonging to the family Cyprinodontidae are most efficient larvivorous fishes and satisfy all the characters that are needed for effective mosquito control.
This practice of effective biocontrol needs much more efforts to be used on mass scale.