What term refers to a pesticide used to kill mosquito larvae?

• A. Encephalitis
• B. Larvicide
• C. Anthropophilic
• D. Ornithophilic

Answer: (B)

Killing the immature stage of mosquitoes is the primary idea here. A larvicide is a pesticide formulated to target mosquito larvae in the water, stopping development before they become biting adults. This approach helps reduce adult mosquito populations by interrupting the life cycle at the early stage. In practice, larvicides are applied to breeding sites such as standing water and can be biological, like Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), or chemical, like methoprene or temephos. The other terms relate to disease or mosquito behavior, not to pesticides: encephalitis is a disease mosquito-borne by humans; anthropophilic and ornithophilic describe whether mosquitoes prefer humans or birds, respectively.