USING BG LURE VERSUS NON-ATTRACTANT IN STICKY TRAPS TO EVALUATE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLECTING EYE GNATS (DIPTERA: CHLOROPIDAE: LIOHIPPELATES SPP.)

Increased number of eye gnats often cause a nuisance problem in St. Johns County, Florida, during spring and summer. Anastasia Mosquito Control District, St. Augustine often receives service requests and complaints about the eye gnat problem. Evaluation of traps is critically important for surveillance and control of nuisance eye gnats. This study was conducted to determine if sticky traps (RESCUE!® TrapStik for Flies) baited with BG Lure were more attractive to eye gnats than sticky traps without bait in Elkton, northeastern Florida. The results showed that sticky traps baited with BG Lure were more attractive to eye gnats than unbaited traps, which could be considered as a tool for surveillance and control of eye gnats.