Shanghai scrambles to stop mosquito invasion

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) Shanghai has called on residents to breed special larvae-eating fish to combat a plague of mosquitoes expected this summer, state media reported today.

The mosquito ''density'' in China's financial capital was likely to double this year, the China Daily said, after a warm and rainy winter created favourable breeding conditions.

''Larvae are rarely found in February. But this year larvae have been found in puddles, construction sites, free markets and underground car parks,'' the paper said.

The city's public health promotion committee had urged locals to breed environmentally friendly ''mosquitofish'' in ponds and rivers to kill the larvae, the paper said, rather than use harmful chemical pesticides.

Mosquitofish could survive in small containers of water and eat up to 200 larvae a day, the paper said.

REUTERS PDM ND1114