Bioassay studies on the reaction of Aedes aegypti & Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) on different attractants.

BACKGROUND: The studies on mosquito attractants had been develop intensively in the recent years. However, the study on fruit peel extract as mosquito attractant was scarce, even though various fruits had demonstrated the ability to attract different types of mosquito species. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the potential of Carica papaya (papaya) and Ananas comosus (pineapple) peel extracts to attract Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti. METHODS: The Aedes mosquitoes response to the fruit peel extracts were conducted in the no-choice and choice assay using modified olfactometer. The Preference Index (PI) in each assay was calculated and arcsine transformed before conducting independent t-test to determine the significant different between the mean arcsine transformed PI and the tested hypothesis mean PI. RESULT: No choice assay indicate both Aedes species have significant attraction to the papaya and pineapple peel extracts (p < 0.05). In choice assay, Ae. albopictus is revealed to equally attracted to the papaya and pineapple peel extracts (p > 0.05) while Ae. aegypti is significantly attracted to the papaya peel extract (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The study had identified that both fruit peel extracts able to attract Aedes mosquitoes with Ae. albopictus is equally attracted to papaya and pineapple peel extracts while Ae. aegypti is more attracted to the papaya peel extract than the pineapple peel extract.

Spatial and Temporal distribution of Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes in Shah Alam.

Surveys are conducted at central zone of Shah Alam in determining the distribution of dengue vector mosquito population. A minimum of 100 houses was randomly searched for breeding at every 24 localities in central zone of Shah Alam. Number of buildings at central zone of Shah Alam was obtained from the local authorities in order to calculate the sample size. The positive and wet containers in each locality were recorded and the types of container for positive containers were categorized accordingly. The numbers of larvae in each container were collected. The pupal index (PI), house index (HI), container index (CI), and the Breteau index were calculated for each locality. Plastic containers (CID 1) showed the highest number of positive, while Seksyen 1 and Seksyen 14 showed the highest percentage of BI with 70% and 80% respectively. This study would provide the information regarding Aedes mosquito infestation and , highlighted the central region as the dengue fever was fluctuating in these area. It can also help to create strategy to reduce the mosquito menace in our country with more cost-effective mosquito larval control.