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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #175364
Title: LABORATORY EVALUATION OF MOSQUITO TRAPS BAITED WITH A SYNTHETIC HUMAN ODOR BLEND TO CAPTURE AEDES AEGYPTI (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE)

Author
item SILVA, IVONEIDE - BRAZIL
item EIRAS, ALVARO - BRAZIL
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item Bernier, Ulrich

Submitted to: American Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/2/2005
Publication Date: 6/1/2005
Citation: Silva, I.M., Eiras, A.E., Kline, D.L., Bernier, U.R. 2005. Laboratory evaluation of mosquito traps baited with a synthetic human odor blend to capture aedes aegypti (diptera: culicidae). American Mosquito Control Association. 21:229-233.

Interpretive Summary: Mosquitoes transmit diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, encephalitis, and West Nile fever. One way to determine the relative risk to humans and animals in a local area is to assess the number of mosquitoes present that may be carrying these diseases. This requires a means of surveillance to collect these mosquitoes. Trapping of mosquitoes in surveillance traps is one way of collecting these insects, but it is currently limited by the ability of the traps to collect the mosquitoes of interest. Improving traps by design and lures can result in better surveillance. The technology described here by scientists at the USDA, ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural, & Veterinary Entomology and scientists in Brazil, compares some common mosquito traps and tests a new synthetic lure as a means to more efficiently trap mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever. The outcome of this work is of interest to local mosquito control district managers and researchers interested in modeling more accurately the disease risk.

Technical Abstract: A synthetic blend of chemicals comprised of volatiles released by the human body has been shown to be an effective attractant for female Aedes aegypti in olfactometer bioassays with laboratory-reared mosquitoes. We report the laboratory evaluation of Ae. aegypti response to a synthetic blend tested with four types of mosquito traps (CDC model 512, CDC model 1012, CFG and Fay-Prince traps). Ae. aegypti females were attracted significantly by the blend. The higher release rate of attractant (320.2 10.71 mg/h) more efficiently attracted mosquitoes than the lower release rate (42.02.3mg/h). Although both the Fay-Prince and CFG traps caught higher number of mosquitoes than the other traps, only the CFG trap caught a statistically significant greater number of mosquitoes. The results suggest that the synthetic blend is effective in attracting Ae. aegypti females under controlled laboratory conditions (i.e. a closed system). Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of this blend in baited traps under field conditions.