The effects of water volume, container surface area and the density of hosts and fungal zoospores on the infectivity of the oomycete fungus Leptolegnia chapmanii to Aedes aegypti were investigated in the laboratory. Late 3rd or early 4th instars from a laboratory colony were used as hosts in all assays. Fourth instars infected with L. chapmanii for 48 h (6.1 +/- 0.2 x 10(4) zoospores/larva) were used as inoculum. Mortality rates were >90% in containers with 20 or fewer larvae when exposed to 1 infected larva, but they decreased to 37% in containers with 60 larvae. Mortality rates varied from 82% to 92% when healthy 4th instars were exposed to 1 and 2 infected larvae, respectively, whereas 100% mortality was obtained with > or =3 infected larvae. Infection and mortality rates in containers with volumes that varied from 300 to 5,000 ml but that had similar water surface area (397 cm2) varied from 89 to 92%, respectively. When water volume was held constant at 250 ml in containers with variable surface areas (14.5-875 cm(2)), larval mortality varied from 96% to 25%, respectively. The ability of L. chapmanii to infect mosquito larvae is dose dependent and influenced by larval density and surface area.