Mosquito larvicides target which life stage?

• A. Adults.
• B. Larvae.
• C. Eggs.
• D. Pupae.

Answer: (B)

Targeting the larval stage in water is how mosquito larvicides work. Larvae live and feed in standing water, and this is the stage where they are most accessible to chemical, microbial, or growth-regulating products. By killing larvae or preventing their development into pupae and then adults, fewer mosquitoes emerge to bite and potentially spread disease. Eggs are laid on or near water and hatch into larvae, but the chemicals used as larvicides are designed to affect the growing larval stage rather than the eggs. Pupae don’t feed and are less susceptible to many larvicides, and adults are controlled with products labeled as adulticides rather than larvicides. So the focus of larvicides is the aquatic larval stage.