Lethal Ovitrap CIMATEC: A New Trap for Arbovirus Transmitting Mosquitoes

A lot of countries have difficulty in combating Ae. aegypti, due to the high adaptability of this mosquito to the urban area. The National Program for Dengue Control (PNCD) is responsible for allocating the most activities to combat Ae. aegypti in districts of Brazil (basic sanitation, education, chemical control). Despite the technological advances in the 21th century, there was little social commitment with the conception of a formal device in the fight against Ae. aegypti. Senai-Cimatec developed a trap (Lethal Ovitrap CimatecTM) based on new technologies to control Aedes aegypti. So, the aim of this study was to compare the traditional traps on the market with the LOCTM trap, created by Cimatec. We performed two experiments to evaluate the performance of the traps against the mosquitoes. The tests occurred in a monitored and closed environment at the Central Laboratory of Bahia (Entomology Laboratory) (LACEN/BA). The larvae, water, and substrate for the experiment in the three containers had the same origin; three cages were kept in the entomology sector with the same conditions of temperature and humidity. The results showed that LOCTM has several advantages when compared to the traditional traps, such as: capacity to eliminate the immature forms of the vector in a few hours; entrapment and extermination of larvae and/or adults forms by asphyxiation; high lethality for mosquitoes and ability to reduce the Aedes population in an area by removing from the environment future generations of mosquitoes; installation; it is attractive to mosquitoes; no needs of weekly monitoring; no power consumption; simple manipulation and low-cost; water as a protection factor and not as a risk factor; it does not use insecticide or any toxic agent harmful to human health. So, the use of LOCTM has advantages over traditional traps, directing the biotechnology market to new solutions with low-cost, easy to handle and non-toxic to man and the environment in the fight agains Ae. aegypti