A pilot project of residual-insecticide spraying to control malaria transmitted by the Anopheles punctulatus group in Netherlands New Guinea.

The authors report on preliminary observations carried out in three experimental houses in Netherlands New Guinea, the object of which was to determine whether residual spraying with insecticides might be expected to give good results in the control of malaria transmitted by mosquitos of the Anopheles punctulatus group and by A. karwari. One house was sprayed with DDT, another with dieldrin, and the third was left unsprayed. From the kills recorded of mosquitos entering these houses at night it is apparent that good results can be anticipated with both insecticides, although dieldrin is the more effective.Observations made at the same time on the behaviour of these mosquitos indicate that they have greater contact with the inside walls of houses than was previously thought.