Attractant and stimulant factors for oviposition of Culex pipiens fatigans in natural breeding-sites.

The breeding of mosquito larvae in the field is determined by the ovipositing behaviour of the gravid females. Investigation of the chemical factors that induce oviposition is therefore important for understanding mosquito ecology. These substances may also prove to be useful in assessing and controlling mosquito populations.The author has demonstrated two chemical factors, an ovipositing attractant and an ovipositing stimulant, in surface-water. The ovipositing attractant, extracted from surface-water by distillation and extraction with diethyl ether, was found to be quite effective when used to recapture known numbers of gravid mosquitos released in a large calf-shed. The presence of the stimulant factor was established by forcing gravid females to touch the testing water with tarsi and proboscis. After such contact, they began oviposition three times more rapidly on surface-water than on tap-water.The importance of these factors was demonstrated in the larval populations of Culex pipiens fatigans in pit-latrines in Rangoon, Burma.