Potential biological agents for control of mosquitoes

Abstract

There are about 3,000 different kinds of mosquitoes, and together they kill millions of people every year. Most species include adult females that use a proboscis to feed on the blood of a wide variety of victims, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and even other arthropods. They don't eat the blood, however; it's used to give their eggs a protein boost. As a result of their ability to bite and consume viruses, several species are considered vectors of illnesses such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, zika, encephalitis, yellow fever, filariasis, west nile virus, and many more. Predators, diseases, parasites, or even rivals may all play a role as biocontrol agents. Biocontrol agents come in many forms, such as fish, frogs, lizards, mosquitoes (Including cannibalistic species), dragonflies, insects, mites, copepods, helminths, planarians, bacteria, fungi, etc. This article discusses the current and historical state of various biocontrol techniques, as well as their prospective use in the fight against mosquitoes.