Assessing the possibility of using entomopathogenic fungi for mosquito control in Hawaii

Currently, the Hawaiian government uses chemical pesticides and Bti, a bacterial agent applied to larval pools, for mosquito control. These methods can pose a threat to the environment and be expensive. Additionally, mosquitoes usually develop a resistance toward these pesticides. An alternative agent for mosquito control is entomopathogenic fungi, which can kill or disable insects while they are non-pathogenic to plants and mammals. The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of entomopathogenic fungi as a more sustainable mosquito-control method. We isolated Metarhizium anisopliae from local soil samples in Honolulu, Hawaii. We hypothesized that this entomopathogenic fungus from Hawaii would effectively kill Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito larvae. We tested the fungus on the larvae of C. quinquefasciatus at concentrations of 1 x 10⁴ and 1 x 10⁵ conidia/mL. We found that the more concentrated fungal solution was more virulent to the larvae. Hence, this entomopathogenic fungus may offer a sustainable approach to mosquito control.