THE USE OF GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF MICRO-AMOUNTS OF INSECTICIDE PICKED UP BY MOSQUITOS.

The test method recommended by the WHO Expert Committee on Insecticides for determining the susceptibility or resistance of adult mosquitos to insecticides has been evaluated quantitatively by the use of gas chromatography to measure the amount of dieldrin picked up by adult Culex quinquefasciatus Say (= C. pipiens fatigans Wiedemann). A strain homozygous for dieldrin-resistance was used to determine the pick-up as a function of time and concentration of dieldrin. The results of experiments using electron-capture detection with gas chromatography suggest that the pick-up is a linear function of the concentration on the paper and also of the time of exposure, even of the 24-hour exposure to the 4.0% dieldrin paper.