Borjas G, Marten G G, Fernandez E, Portillo H
División de Enfermedades de Transmisión Vectorial, Ministerio de Salud Pública de Honduras, Tegucigalpa.
J Med Entomol. 1993 Sep;30(5):943-6. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/30.5.943.
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.
滑龟（Trachemys scripta）幼龟能非常有效地控制水泥水箱（pilas）中的蚊虫幼虫，这些水箱用于储存家庭清洁用水。当将单只幼龟放入此前蚊虫滋生严重的水箱中时，几乎所有幼龟都保持健康，且没有蚊虫幼虫存活到蛹期。在洪都拉斯，家庭欢迎将龟放入储水容器中。通过提供少量厨余来补充龟的饮食，并在水箱中放置一个小的漂浮平台供龟晒太阳，可以确保龟的生活条件人道。尽管龟可能是沙门氏菌的替代宿主，但现有证据表明，水箱中的龟不应成为人类感染源。在常规使用龟进行蚊虫控制之前，应进一步确认不存在沙门氏菌危害。
