Mosquito development and biological control in a macrophyte-based wastewater treatment plant.

A one-year study of the proliferation of mosquito in a Pistia stratiotes-based waste stabilization ponds in Cameroon revealed that Mansonia and Culex were the main breeding genera with about 55% and 42% of the total imagoes respectively. Though the ponds represent a favorable breeding ground for mosquitoes, only 0.02% of captured imagoes was Anopheles gambiae, suggesting that this wastewater treatment plant does not significantly contribute to the development of the malaria vector in the area. Gambusia sp. introduced to control mosquito population in the ponds acclimatized relatively well in most of the ponds (B3-B7) and their feeding rate without any diet ranged from 15.0 to 50.2 larvae/day for a single fish.