THE MOSQUITO PEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18694, 28 April 1924, Page 9

THE MOSQUITO PEST.

VALUABLE CURE IN FIJI. WONDERFUL MINNOW'S WORK. [from OUR OWN correspondent.] . S.UVA, April 12. Many municipalities and shire councils are worried just now as to .the best methods of exterminating the mosquito. This pest is at the root of very many of the most dangerous diseases, and to hunt out the mosquito will mean untold blessings to Che communities affectedMany plans have been suggested, and many antidotes "have been tried, some being partly successful, and others proving of little worth. So far the only sure remedy has been found in the abolition of stagnant water. In Hawaii, however, a natural enemy has been used with excellent effect. It is a fresh-water minnow, known as the top minnow—at least that is the namo by which he is known in Fiji. About 12 years ago Mr. Knowles, the superintendent of agriculture, introduced this minnow into Fiji for the purpose of keeping down the pest. The minnows were placed in some pools at the experimental farm, and were for a time forgotten. At Nasimu Farm they increased at a wonderful rate, and were found to exist in millions. They do not like running water, but love stagnant creeks, pools, and suchlike waters. There they have their breeding places, and there they feast on the larvae of the mosquito. Attention has recently been drawn to the huge store of these most valuable mosquito destroyers, and they will be distributed throughout the various islands, and will • probably be sent on to the Solomons and New Hebrides, where by their means the fevers and malaria now so 'prevalent should succumb to the lively little minnow. It was imported into Hawaii from the West Indies, where its activities are very valued. This news may prove of much value to portions of New Zealand' now plagued with mosquitoes.