Mosquito colonization and stock keeping are sufficiently difficult for many species that most consideration is usually given to the quantity and consistency of the material obtained rather than whether the process will promote the specific requirements determined by the purpose for which it is being colonized. Furthermore, the application for which a colony is eventually applied may have little to do with its colonization methods.

I propose that mosquito colonies can be subject to purifying or relaxed selection for desirable characteristics and/or polymorphism. I also present methods that have been attempted to improve the suitability of colonized mosquitoes for the purpose intended and plans for such efforts in the context of mosquito sterile insect technique. Simple routine measures that can be taken to ensure stock integrity and conversely, to deliberately introgress genotypes and assess trait heritability in the context of stock improvement will be presented.