DUBLIN, Ohio — This suburban community is using a mosquito-eating fish instead of spray as its secret weapon in the war against the pesky insects.

        “Mosquitofish, or Gambusia affinis, are guppy-like fish that are especially effective at eating mosquito larvae,” said Todd Kleismit, community relations specialist for the Columbus suburb. “It's a little bit of an experiment.”

        Dublin received about 150 of the fish, which can grow to be 2 1/2 inches long, from Toledo and placed 25 to 35 in each of two ponds in residential areas two weeks ago, city streets and utili ties supervisor Bill Grubaugh said. Officials hope the fish will multiply and stop the larvae from maturing into adult mosquitoes.

        “We're hoping they can eat their weight” in larvae, Mr. Grubaugh said. “We didn't want to put them all in and have nothing held back to monitor and try and increase their numbers.”

        The fish are part of a plan to rely less on the use of chemicals and are not an immediate solution.

        Mr. Kleismit said some residents hoped the city would get away from the use of chemicals.

        “But if we stopped spraying altogether, we'd hear it tenfold,” he said.

        Some communities are saying it's a bad year for mosquitoes, but others say it's not any worse than normal.

        Susan Tilgner, health commissioner for Franklin County, which handles mosquito-control services for many of the county's villages and cities, said the county would prefer not to launch an aerial assault on the pests.

        She says the best way to get rid of mosquitoes is to eliminate any standing water, which serves as a breeding ground for the bugs.

        The most common hot spots are soda or other metal cans, baby pools, old tires, wheelbarrows, bird baths and trash cans.

        There is some concern that the West Nile virus, primarily carried by the Northern House mosquito, could arrive in Ohio this year, probably through the northeastern part of the state.

        “We know that it's as far as Pennsylvania,” Ms. Tilgner said. “We're going to be monitoring all summer.”

        The virus, which causes inflammation of the brain, killed seven New Yorkers in 1999 and two people throughout the United States last year.

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