| Sumario: | Abstract. Monitoring and control programs for yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.), usually do not focus on the egg as a potential target for control. The
egg is the most numerous life stage but is invisible to conventional inspection by a sticky pad that attaches it. This laboratory study evaluated the potential ovicidal
effect of five commonly used plastics. Plastic liners in oviposition containers were exposed to gravid female mosquitoes in an insectary. The percentage of eggs that
hatched was recorded. The plastic liners altered the places where eggs were laid, i.e., 27.0% were glued onto the plastic film, 70.0% remained floating, and 3.0%
were submerged. Vinyl blocked most egg adhesion, with a mean of 7.05 ± 10.1 eggs, compared to 170.7 ± 68.6 eggs for the check. Pooled numbers of glued, floating, and submerged eggs showed fewest eggs hatched on vinyl or low-density polyethylene, resulting in the death of 94.7% of the embryos. Plastics waterproofing property might be blocking the hyaluronic acid, the component of the sticky
substance of mosquito eggs. Results demonstrated the potential use of plastic strips as an ovicide. Plastics should be studied further for use in community-based
programs to control dengue.
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