Field Trials to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Biogents®-Sweetscent Lure in Combination with Several Commercial Mosquito Traps and to Assess the Effectiveness of the Biogents-Mosquitaire Trap with and Without Carbon Dioxide.

A series of field experiments was conducted in Florida, California, and Louisiana in order to investigate whether adding the Biogents® (BG)-Sweetscent lure to several commercially available mosquito traps increases their Aedes albopictus catch rates and to evaluate the BG-Mosquitaire trap with and without CO2. Adding the BG-Sweetscent to the SkeeterVac Bite-Guard SVE6211, MosClean UV LED (ultraviolet light-emitting diode), Flowtron® Galaxie PV 75, Dynatrap® DT2000XL, Bite Shield Protector, and Black Flag® BZ-40 increased their Ae. albopictus catch rates up to 4.2-fold. The catch rates of the BG-Mosquitaire and the BG-Sentinel did not differ significantly for Ae. aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. The BG-Mosquitaire without CO2 and only with BG-Sweetscent caught 1.2 times more Ae. albopictus than the CO2- and Lurex3-baited Mosquito Magnet® Patriot and 2.6 times more than the CO2- and Sweetscent-baited SkeeterVac, respectively. The BG-Mosquitaire baited with Sweetscent and CO2 collected 6.8 times more Ae. albopictus than the Mosquito Magnet Patriot and 11.9 times more than the SkeeterVac. We conclude that BG-Sweetscent increases the tiger mosquito catch rates of many commercially available mosquito traps. We proved that the BG-Mosquitaire is as efficient as the well-known BG-Sentinel and that it can outperform mosquito traps that are baited with propane-generated CO2.

Reduced performance of a PVC-coated Biogents Sentinel prototype in comparison to the original Biogents Sentinel for monitoring the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in temperate North America.

Aedes albopictus is a major nuisance pest and also a public health concern because of the role it plays in the transmission of arboviruses. There is a continuing demand for effective surveillance tools for this species. The first generation of Biogents Sentinel (BGS1) traps have proven to be an effective tool for surveillance of Ae. albopictus throughout its range, however, some defects in construction led to the eventual development of the next generation. We compared the performance of the new generation prototype trap (BGS2P) to the original. Studies were conducted in suburban and urban areas in Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia, USA in the summer of 2014 (July-October). BGS1 traps collected significantly more Ae. albopictus when compared to the BGS2P with or without CO2 in all locations (P<0.05). When a white cloth was wrapped around the BGS2P traps, efficiency did not change in Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia; however, numbers of adult Ae. albopictus collected from the BGS2P and the BGS1 were significantly different based on lure type (P< 0.0001). Results from Florida showed that BGS1with the BG lure and CO2 collected significantly higher adult numbers compared to BGS2P with a three component cartridge lure and CO2 (P< 0.0001). Overall, our results indicate that despite improvements in construction and durability of the BGS2P, this newer trap type did not increase the capture rates of Ae. albopictus in North America. Biogents modified BGS2P based on the data collected from the current study and updated as Biogents Sentinel 2 is now commercially available and its efficacy in comparison to the original will require further study.

Evaluation of various attributes of gravid female traps for collection of Culex in Florida.

Gravid female traps are used for surveillance of populations of Culex spp. and arboviruses such as West Nile virus. Field trials evaluating various attributes of gravid female traps for collection of gravid Culex were conducted in rural habitats in Alachua and Marion Counties, FL. Screened cage tests in the field were also used to compare trap models. Three trap models were evaluated: two based on the original Reiter design (Gravid CDC traps A and B) and one based on the revised Reiter design (gravid box trap). Trap model significantly affected collection of Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex nigripalpus; the greatest numbers were collected by the CDC gravid trap Aand CDC gravid trap B traps compared to the gravid box traps. There were no statistically significant differences between the collections with CDC gravid traps A and B. These patterns were similar at both sites and between early and late summer collections in Marion Co. In trials conducted in screened field cages with gravid Cx. quinquefasciatus, significantly more mosquitoes were collected in the CDC gravid trap A and B than in box gravid traps. Size of pan associated with the gravid traps was important and traps with larger pans collected more mosquitoes. Pan color was also important in efficacy of traps, and traps with darker pans (black, green) collected more mosquitoes than traps with lighter pans (tan, white). The percentages of gravid mosquitoes in trap collections of Culex females ranged from 54.0% to 89.6% with no clear differences between model of trap, size of pan, or pan color. Various attributes of gravid female traps impact the efficacy of the traps for Culex spp. and these should be considered in trapping programs.