Semi-field evaluation of a modified commercial My Mosquito Deleter larval trap with sticky paper against Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Aedes aegypti (L.) is a major vector of yellow fever, dengue, and Zika viruses, and its management can be difficult, especially in situations where insecticide usage is restricted and resistance is present. Traps and trapping techniques have mostly been used for monitoring populations of adult mosquitoes, but several commercially available traps have been evaluated and used to reduce nuisance populations of adult mosquitoes (Kline 2006). Suppression of Ae. aegypti, in particular, requires a suite of integrated control measures. One measure gaining more attention is to attract and kill gravid females by exploiting their oviposition behavior. Recently, a commercial larval trap for control of Culex mosquito larvae has been developed and marketed. The commercial brand name is My Mosquito Deleter (MMD; Destin, FL). When gravid female Culex mosquitoes lay their eggs in the MMD larval trap filled with water, the larvae after hatching from eggs will fall downward through the MMD's baffle system. The mosquito larvae cannot come to the surface due to the physical barrier from the baffle ring and black cone, resulting in larval mortality. During the preliminary experiment with the original MMD trap full of water, no adult mosquitoes were collected when larval mosquitoes were commonly recorded, because the gravid mosquitoes flew away after they laid their eggs. In order to catch gravid Aedes mosquitoes when they come to the trap to lay their eggs on water within the containers, we modified the MMD trap by placing sticky paper around the inside at the top of the trap (at the water line) after removing the baffle ring and lowering the water level to create an air pocket. The purpose of the study was to investigate the capability of a trap originally designed to trap Culex larvae to attract and kill gravid Ae. aegypti females with a simple and inexpensive modification by adding a piece of black sticky paper and lowering the level of water, in contrast to the unmodified MMD trap with a lower level of water.