Which tactic involves eliminating or modifying breeding sites?

• A. Larvicide
• B. Source Reduction
• C. Biological Control
• D. Adulticide

Answer: (B)

Source reduction is about removing or changing the places mosquitoes use to breed. Since mosquitoes need standing water to lay eggs and for larvae to grow, eliminating containers of water, improving drainage, and cleaning or redesigning areas where water collects prevents eggs from hatching and disrupts the life cycle before mosquitoes ever become adults. This preventive approach often provides longer-term suppression because it reduces the available habitats the pests rely on.

Larvicides kill larvae in water, but they don’t remove the breeding sites themselves. Biological control uses natural enemies to reduce larvae or adults, which still relies on the environment hosting mosquitoes. Adulticides target the flying adults rather than preventing new generations from developing.