Comparative Efficacy of Temephos and Pyriproxyfen on <i>Aedes aegypti</i>, <i>Aedes albopictus</i>, and <i>Culex quinquefasciatus</i> Collected from Different Ecological Zones of Punjab, Pakistan

Management of mosquitoes accentuates mostly the use of both larvicides and adulticides. The dengue control program in Punjab, Pakistan, has long been under the influence of temephos (1G and 50EC) for larviciding. The present study was therefore planned to use larvicides that were currently being used in a dengue control program along with insect growth regulators (IGR) against mosquito species (<i>Culex</i> and <i>Aedes</i>) collected from various ecological regions of Punjab (Pakistan) regarding disease outbreaks to assess their efficiency by performing larval bioassays as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) at three different doses, i.e., low dose (D₁), recommended dose (D₂), and high dose (D₃). Results revealed that among the three larvicides used, pyriproxyfen 0.5WDG showed significantly higher control than temephos 1G and temephos 50EC, but in the case of temephos 1G and temephos 50EC, temephos 1G showed slightly better control. A marginal difference was observed between the recommended doses (D₂) and the higher doses (D₃), but a substantial difference was observed between the lower doses (D₁) and those of the recommended and higher doses (D₂ and D₃). Pyriproxyfen 0.5WDG at the recommended dose should be applied in mosquito control programs relying heavily on larvicides as it proved to be a promising control agent, followed by temephos 1G and temephos 50EC.