The impact of insecticide‐treated cloth targets on the survival of Stegomyia polynesiensis (= Aedes polynesiensis) under laboratory and semi‐field conditions in French Polynesia

The impact of deltamethrin‐impregnated cloth targets on Stegomyia polynesiensis (= Aedes polynesiensis) (Marks) (Diptera: Culicidae) was assessed under laboratory and semi‐field settings in French Polynesia. Stegomyia polynesiensis females were released into small laboratory cages and large field cages containing either a deltamethrin‐treated or an untreated navy blue cloth, and mosquito knock‐down and mortality were assessed. The 24‐h mortality rate in mosquitoes exposed to the insecticide‐treated target in small cages was 98.0%. These mosquitoes also demonstrated significantly higher levels of knock‐down than those exposed to the untreated target. Mortality in field cages was assessed at 24 and 48 h. The 24‐h mortality rate in mosquitoes exposed to the control target was 31.2%, whereas that in those exposed to the deltamethrin‐treated target was 54.3%. The 48‐h mortality rate was also elevated in mosquitoes exposed to the deltamethrin‐treated target, but this result did not differ significantly from that observed in mosquitoes exposed to the control target. The significant suppression of female S. polynesiensis by deltamethrin‐treated resting targets in this study indicates that these targets could play a role in the control of an important disease vector in the South Pacific region.