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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 #317521
Research Project: Biting Arthropod Surveillance and Control

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Do capture data from mosquito traps represent reality?

Author
item Barnard, Donald

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2015
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Collectively, the effects of mechanical trap style, the method of trap placement in the field, mosquito activity phase, and other biological phenomena are manifest as sample bias that leads to vector detection failure(s) and/or erroneous predictions of mosquito activity. The goal of this research is a practical (science-based) system for the selection of mosquito trap type and the (geo-coordinate-based) placement of mechanical traps in the field when such traps are used for adult mosquito detection and surveillance. Two objectives have been undertaken to achieve this goal. The first objective is to determine the species sensitivity and sample bias characteristics of different styles of mechanical traps. The second objective is to design and test strategies for the placement of mechanical traps in the field. The principal criterion for success in this endeavor is the accuracy of spatio-temporal predictions of vector activity based on the species diversity and adult mosquito density data obtained from mechanical traps.