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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 #74672
Title: EVALUATION OF BUTANONE, CARBON DIOXIDE AND 1-OCTEN-3-OL AS ATTRACTANTS FOR MOSQUITOES ASSOCIATED WITH NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA BAY AND CYPRESS SWAMPS

Author
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item MANN, MICHAEL - NDVECC-POULSBO, WA

Submitted to: Journal of the Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Mosquito control is currently entering a period of change. Change is needed due to public concern about potential health and environmental hazards that result from the use of chemical insecticides for controlling pest species, and the development of resistance by many mosquito species to the few currently registered chemicals for mosquito control. These factors have combined to shift emphasis away from reliance on control through conventional sprays of chemical insecticides alone toward an integrated pest management approach (IPM). An IPM approach includes alternative techniques such as biological control and investigating the potential use of attractants. This study was undertaken to evaluate the potential use of carbon dioxide, octenol and butanone as attractants for mosquitoes associated with freshwater swamps. Many mosquito species responded strongly to carbon dioxide alone and this response was often doubled when carbon dioxide was combined with octenol. Butanone at the release rates used did not show much promise as an attractant for these mosquito species. Knowledge of how different mosquito species respond to various attractants is important if they are to be used effectively for mosquito control.

Technical Abstract: Field studies were conducted to determine the responses of mosquitoes found in north central Florida bay and cypress swamps to carbon dioxide (CO2), light, butanone and 1-octen-3-ol (octenol), alone and each attractant in combination with CO2. The response of these mosquito species to 5 release rates (2, 20, 100, 200 and 2000 ml/min) of CO2 was also determined. The use of CO2 resulted in a response in all the species studied; the pattern of response to increasing CO2 levels varied from species to species. The general response pattern was collection size increased as CO2 release rate increased. Three species (Ae. dupreei, Cs. melanura and Cx. erraticus) deviated from this general pattern. Collection size of all 3 species decreased at the 2000 ml/min release rate. In the CO2 and light studies the general pattern for collection size was: CO2 + light > CO2 alone > light alone. The combination CO2 + octenol resulted in a synergistic response (i. e. greater than the combined response obtained by CO2 and octenol-alone baited traps) in all species except Cs. melanura, Cx. nigripalpus and Cx. restuans. Only two species (Ae. atlanticus and Ae. canadensis) responded in relatively large numbers (i. e. response to octenol alone is >= 5% of that obtained by using CO2 alone at 200 ml/min release rate). Octenol at the release rate tested tends to repel Cs. melanura. The butanone + CO2 bait combination increased the responses relative to (CO2 alone) of Ae. infirmatus, Cx. salinarius, Cq. perturbans and Ps. ferox, but decreased the responses of Cs. melanura.