By consuming mosquito larvae the fish managed to reduce numbers of two of the main malarial mosquitoes by more than 94 percnt. Nile tilapia’s taste for mosquitoes has been known since 1917, but this is the first time field data has been published detailing their use in mosquito control. The BMC Public Health study noted the fish could prove critical as mosquitoes are becoming resistant to pesticides.
 
The authors suggested that for Kenyans, the fish could prove a win-win investment. In addition to limiting mosquito populations, they could also be used for food, and even generate income, too. There should be no problem with acceptance of this malaria control method, since the local communities already farm this fish species.
 
This species, already a popular food fish in western Kenya, is an apparently sustainable mosquito control tool, which also offers a source of protein and income to people in rural areas.
 
Joanne Greenfield, malaria advisor for the World Health Organization in Kenya, was, according to BBC news, more circumspect, while describing the findings as “positive”.
 
“This method may well work in a defined area of water, but mosquitoes spread in all sorts of places—including small pools in the mud and puddles—where you obviously can’t introduce fish,” she said. “It just wouldn’t work for many areas.”
 
But she added: “We recommend a spectrum of methods to combat malaria, and this could certainly be a useful tool.”

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Larvae of Culex Mosquitoes. As seen on the picture, larvae make dense groups in standing water -