Juvenile Turtles for Mosquito Control in Water Storage Tanks

Juvenile turtles, Trachemys scripta, provided highly effective control of mosquito larvae in cement tanks (pilas) where water was stored for household cleaning. When single turtles were introduced to tanks with histories of high mosquito production, nearly all turtles remained in good health and no mosquito larvae survived to the pupal stage. Families welcome turtles in their water storage containers in Honduras. Humane conditions for turtles can be assured by providing small quantities of table scraps to supplement their diet and by placing a small floating platform in the tank for basking. Although turtles can serve as alternate hosts for Salmonella, available evidence suggests that turtles in tanks should not be a source of human infection. Further confirmation that there is no Salmonella hazard should precede routine use of turtles for mosquito control.