Mosquito Killer

As a Los Angeles ratcatcher, W. Earl Duclus was a champion. He still claims the alltime record for rats trapped there in one day (1,072 in 1924). Now he is a mosquito slayer, and his exploits are fully as impressive. More than any other man, he is responsible for keeping sprawling Los Angeles comparatively free of the little bloodsuckers.

As field supervisor of mosquito control for the city health department, Pest-Hunter Duclus uses modern methods. All through the summer mosquito hunting season he and his men spray DDT into swamps, tidal flats, ponds and irrigation ditches. But Duclus says he owes much of his success to the voracious appetite of a small (2-in.) fish called Gambusia affinis. This olive-colored, viviparous cousin of the guppy thrives in the stagnant waters where mosquitoes breed, lives to a ripe old age of two or three years, and never loses its taste for wriggling insect larvae. In its prime, Gambusia affinis can polish off 100 incipient mosquitoes a day.

Duclus brought his first Gambusia from Bakersfield to Los Angeles six years ago, has bred them ever since in reservoir debris-basins, ponds and pools scattered throughout the city. Now anyone with mosquito trouble can pick up a free supply of the fast-multiplying little fish.

When Duclus and his men find a mosquito breeding ground, the health department notifies the property owner that he must clear up the nuisance. The department suggests ways & means: spraying with chemicals, draining the offending water, or accepting a gift of the little fish. Today most people take the fish.

Last week Duclus reported that in the past three months he and his men have distributed 49,559 Gambusia to housewives, ranchers, and swimming-pool owners. They themselves have planted 45,100 in rivers, streams and swamps. While Duclus and his hungry minnows stand guard, Angelenos will never have to spend the long, warm evenings slapping themselves silly.

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