No abstract

A novel rotator trap was evaluated to determine the diel activity patterns and physiological state of adult female mosquitoes in St. Augustine, FL, U.S.A. Culex nigripalpus were most active from 19:00‐21:00, followed by 1:00‐3:00, based on collections from the novel rotator trap. Furthermore, analysis of the physiological state of female mosquitoes collected by the novel rotator trap suggested that non‐parous (nulliparous) host‐seeking mosquitoes were more frequently active in the 21:00‐23:00 and 09:00‐19:00 time frames. Parous host‐seeking mosquitoes were more frequently collected from 19:00‐21:00 and 1:00‐3:00. A low abundance of gravid females was collected by the rotator trap, so analysis of their activity periods was inconclusive. These results indicate that the novel rotated trap could be used to detect the diel activity patterns of adult mosquitoes in mosquito control programs and more testing should be conducted in the future.

The 00ZZZerot trap (0Z) is a small black plastic container with permethrin and pyriproxyfen, designed and marketed to both attract and kill gravid Aedes mosquitoes (unmodified trap ([UMT] or modified trap [MT]). The 0Z trap without the insecticide was modified with addition of a sticky paper, coated with an adhesive glue (MT) and evaluated for collection efficacy of released gravid mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.) in outdoor screened enclosures in St. Augustine, in northeastern Florida. The mean numbers (6SE) of mosquitoes caught by MTs were 130.67 6 23.95 (40.22 6 5.78 mosquito/trap), compared with 2.33 6 0.88 (0.79 6 0.29 mosquito/trap) mosquitoes caught by UMTs. The MTs collected significantly more mosquitoes, 44.16% (F ¼ 4.495, P , 0.05) of the released mosquitoes, than those captured in UMTs (0.83%). The number of immature mosquitoes (larvae and pupae) hatched from eggs laid in the MTs and UMTs were 79.3 6 23.1 and 19.3 6 6.8, respectively. The mean numbers (6SE) of adults emerging in MTs and UMTs were 34.0 6 22.3 and 14.0 6 6.8, respectively. These results show the potential of the sticky paper modified 0Z traps to be used both to increase the efficacy of collection and as a sticky autocidal tool against gravid Ae. aegypti.