The policy regarding mosquito control strategies in Taiwan is based on integrated vector management (IVM). The major approach is source reduction via collaboration by both residents and governments. However, small and cryptic habitats of dengue vectors are hard to find and eliminate in urban communities. Therefore, this study evaluated a complementary approach that targeted cryptic habitats by utilizing mosquitoes themselves as vehicles to transfer an insect growth regulator, pyriproxyfen (PPF), to their breeding sites; the amount of PPF in breeding water was determined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). A bioassay conducted by introducing ten late-instar larvae into PPF solution was performed to assess emergence inhibition (EI). PPF was found at 0.56 ± 0.04 ng in 25 mL of water by dissemination via ten Aedes aegypti mosquitoes exposed to 0.01% PPF, leading to 100% EI. After the community-level source reduction, a field trial in Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan showed that 30.8%-31.5% of cryptic ovitraps reached EI ≥ 50% one month after spraying 0.01% PPF in microhabitats favored by mosquitoes. IVM in parallel with residual spraying of PPF on resting surfaces of mosquitoes could serve as a simple and complementary approach to reduce cryptic larval sources in urban communities in Southern Taiwan.
Keywords: UPLC–MS/MS; autodissemination; bioassay; integrated vector management; pyriproxyfen.