Irritability of Anopheles farauti, An. maculatus and Culex quinquefasciatus to permethrin

Abstract

Irritability tests of Anopheles farauti to permethrin were carried out at Honiara, Solomon Islands in September 1985 and of An. maculatus and Culex quinquefasciatus to permethrin and DDT in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in January 1986,applying the WHO Expert Committee methods with some modifications. An. farauti and Cx. quinquefasciatus showed a high degree of irritability (the response to external stimuli) to permethrin, averaging respectively 6.5 and 7.4 times higher than the control. An. maculatus showed a lower level of irritability to permethrin, averaging 2.7 times higher than the control. A graded response to increasing dosages of permethrin was shown by An. maculatus, but not by the other species.