Spinosad: a new larvicide against insecticide-resistant mosquito larvae.

Among the characteristics of spinosad that are worth noting is its environmentally favorable toxicity profile. It is a compound of biological origin, whose insecticide action is highly effective against a great number of insects. Laboratory larval bioassays of spinosad on Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles gambiae (specimens that were either susceptible or resistant to pyrethroids, carbamates, and organophosphates) showed that this product had a lethal action (mortality after 24 h of exposure) regardless of the original status, susceptible or resistant, of the mosquito larvae.