ARS | Publication request: ADULT BITING MIDGE RESPONSE TO TRAP TYPE, CARBON DIOXIDE, AND AN OCTENOL/PHENOL MIXTURE IN NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA.

Submitted to: American Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 1, 2002
Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Interpretive Summary: Biting midges transmit diseases, lower the quality of life, decrease property values and cause under utilization of recreational areas. Conventional methods of mosquito control, which emphasize ground and aerial sprays of chemical insecticides, are ineffective against adult biting midges. Cooperative research was conducted by scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL and the John A. Mulrennan, Sr. Public Health Entomology Research and Education Center, Florida A & M University, Panama City, FL, on the efficacy of attractant baited traps for adult biting midge control in suburban residential developments. This aspect of the study compared the relative attractancy of adult biting midges to various types of suction traps baited with various combinations of attractants. The expected outcome of these studies is the development of a removal trapping strategy which utilizes efficient attractant baited traps.

Technical Abstract: The efficacy of CDC, ABC-PRO and CFG suction traps to sample adult populations of Culicoides biting midges was investigated in northwestern Florida. These traps were baited either with a 4:1:8 mixture of octenol:3-n-propylphenol:4-methylphenol alone, or in combination with carbon dioxide (CO2). Four species, in order of decreasing abundance, were ecollected in all traps: C. mississippiensis, C. barbosai, C. melleus and C furens, regardless of treatment. Midge abundance from traps baited with octenol/phenol alone was not significantly (P greater than 0.05) different, regardless of species, when compared with traps without the mixture. However, when CO2 alone or CO2 plus the mixture was used, trap collections of C. mississippiensis and C. barbosai significantly increased; the combination exhibited a synergistic effect on trap catch for both species. When this combination was used, the ABC-PRO trap collected significantly more C. mississippiensis, while the CFG trap caught significantly more C. barbosai. The effects of CO2 plus the octenol/phenol mixture on C. melleus collections appeared to be additive. Culicoides melleus and C. furens did not show a preference for trap type.