Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/16/2022
Publication Date: 10/11/2022
Citation: Tsikolia, M., Tabanca, N., Kline, D.L., Demirci, B., Linthicum, K., Bernier, U.R., Chaskopoulou, A. 2022. Stored sheep wool as source of mosquito attractant volatiles. The 22nd Conference of European Society of Vector Ecology, Sofia, Bulgaria. October 11-14, 2022. pg.12.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Investigating new tools for protection of humans and livestock against biting arthropods still remains an important task. The aim of this work was to study new natural means for mosquito control and surveillance. The literature has shown that sheep and other animal odor inclusion increases light trap catch of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) mosquito vectors and this odor may be the primary factor of mosquito attraction. We investigated commercially available stored sheep wool as attractant against adult female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The volatiles from sheep wool were collected by various techniques of headspace (HS) extractions and hydrodistillation. The extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography - the flame ionization detector (GC-FID) with GC-MS. A total of 52 volatile compounds were detected, many of them known for their mosquito attractant activity. Seven compounds were not previously reported in sheep products. The volatile compositions of the extracts varied significantly across the collections depending on the extraction techniques or types of fibers applied. Bioassays revealed that the dynamic (vibrating) bait setup with sheep wool significantly improved mosquito catches compared to the static setups or the setups without wool. Sheep wool is a readily available, affordable, and environment-friendly material and has the potential to be used as a mosquito management and surveillance component in dynamic bait setups.