Are You a Mosquito Breeder?
Insect-control poster for service personnel: two large mosquitoes frame the headline 'Are You a Mosquito Breeder?', and two red pointing hands say 'You are' if you make needless road ruts or leave holes unfilled, with illustrations of a tank track rut and a soldier filling a hole. The pointing hand addresses the reader directly, and the closing line 'Fight the peril behind the lines' frames mosquitoes as a danger.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Armed Forces (artwork signed Aubrey Wells)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Health, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Armed Forces. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-418 (NAID 513877).
Text on the object
Are YOU a Mosquito Breeder ? YOU ARE IF YOU MAKE NEEDLESS ROAD RUTS WHERE WATER COLLECTS AND MOSQUITOES BREED YOU ARE IF YOU LEAVE HOLES UNFILLED FIGHT THE PERIL BEHIND THE LINES [signature: Aubrey Wells] [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944--O--574718]
