[avar]

    > making sure there's no stagnant water[...]

A couple of months ago I found mosquito larva in some stagnant water in a parking garage, and made sure to pore some bleach into that stagnant puddle when I returned.

I've wondered if the opposite of the "no stagnant water" advice wouldn't be more effective in countries that suffer more from mosquitos. I.e. intentionally create ideal breeding ponds for mosquitos, then kill the eggs/larva/pupa before they emerge from the water as adults.

Edit: Searching some more there's commercial products which allow for the DIY creation of cheap mosquito larva traps: https://www.audubonva.org/news/how-to-set-up-a-mosquito-larv... & https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/

[nicd]

This assumes that the new ponds will pull mosquitoes away from existing ponds. Is this true? (Maybe mosquitoes are limited by suitable breeding grounds, and introducing decoys could have no effect.)

[avar]

If you get mosquito larva in your honeypot pond it is a suitable breeding ground as far as the mosquito is concerned.

So this would work for the same reason the more high-tech release of sterile mosquitos works, it robs them of a breeding opportunity.

But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question...

[Waterluvian]

I think the question is about if there’s an upper bound on mosquito reproduction and if you can “steal” a chunk of that and kill it. Or if you’re really just making even more mosquitos overall and your culling doesn’t actually change the bottom line.

[throwawayapples]

Yes; you might have seen mosquito "dunks" that are small donut shaped things that you can drop into flower pots or other areas that don't drain properly. They dissolve over time. There are also mosquito traps (bird-house sized or even just small plastic bags that you cut open). They can be filld with water to activate.