Eficacia del control de larvas de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) con peces larvívoros

objective: a cohort study was conducted in people′s councils in báez and guaracabulla located in placetas municipality, villa clara province, for the purpose of determining the effectiveness of three river fish called gambusia punctata poey, 1854, gambusia puncticulata poey, 1854 y poecilia reticulata peter, 1895 in the control of mosquito larvae inside water reservoirs used by the population. methods: the study began in april 2006 and ended may, 2007; the selected water tanks were placed inside and outside the houses) since they were more easy to be evaluated. the sample covered 1 740 tanks divided into 2 groups and evaluated for one year. results: the risk of finding mosquito foci was higher in the group of reservoirs non-exposed to the action of fish; this difference allowed stating that 8 mosquito foci were prevented per every 100 reservoirs treated with fish. conclusions: larvivorous fish are an excellent choice to treat cullicidae larval populations existing in water tanks and also a protective factor against incidence of mosquito foci.