BackgroundThere is a global consensus that new intervention tools are needed to cross the last miles in malaria elimination/eradication. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, the Lehmann Funnel Entry Trap (LFET) have shown excellent promise in mosquito densities reducing even in area of high insecticide resistance up to 80%. It requires no chemicals and is self-operated. However, one of the issues of the LFET is the big size of the funnel occupying lot of space inside houses. Here we compared the performance of three new prototypes of LFET with reduced size that combine screening and killing effect on mosquitoes. MethodsThe study was carried out for three months during the rainy season both in low and high malaria vector density sites, Soumousso and Vallée du Kou respectively. The original LFET was modified and 3 new prototypes were produced locally and tested over 3 months (8 days/month) to evaluate their effectiveness in trapping and killing mosquitoes entering houses through the windows. ResultsIn both sites, an overall of 78,435 culicine mosquitoes collected in both traps and houses and most of them were mainly Anopheles gambiae s.l. n= 76,558 (98%) and other species represented n = 1,877 (2%). Of the culicine caught in the trial, n= 55,256 (72%) were collected in traps. The 3 new LFET prototypes reduced the indoor density of mosquitoes collected in the houses by a range of 36 to 73% and 69 to 70% in low vector density setting, Soumousso and high vector density area, Vallée du Kou respectively. The prototype 1 caught a greater number of mosquitoes than the prototype 2 whereas no difference was observed between other prototypes in VK3. In Soumousso, the prototypes 1 and 2 collected significantly higher number of mosquitoes compared to the prototypes 3 and 4. ConclusionThis study has shown that the new LFET prototypes are promising for malaria vector control and could enter in the malaria vector control toolbox in the coming years. Therefore, a large-scale study with one of the prototypes is needed on the practical ability and community acceptance of the LFET to control malaria vectors.

Background: There is a global consensus that new intervention tools are needed to make the final steps toward malaria elimination/eradication. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, the Lehmann Funnel Entry Trap (LFET) has shown promising results in the reduction of mosquito densities, even in areas where insecticide resistance is as high as 80%. The LFET requires no chemicals and is self-operated. However, one of the issues with the original LFET is the size of the funnel, which often occupies too much space within users’ homes. Here, we compared the performance of three new, smaller-sized LFET prototypes that combine a screening and killing effect on mosquitoes. Methods: The study was carried out over three months during the rainy season in low and high malaria vector density sites, Soumousso and Vallée du Kou, respectively. The original LFET (or ‘Prototype 1’/’P1’) was modified to produce three new prototypes, which we will refer to as Prototype 2 (‘the Medium’ or ‘P2’), Prototype 3 (P3) and Prototype 4 (P4). Each of the new prototypes was tested on eight days per month over the three-month period to assess their effectiveness in trapping and killing mosquitoes entering houses through the windows compared to the original LFET. Results: Overall, 78,435 mosquitoes (mainly Anopheles gambiae s.l.) were collected in the two study sites, both in the traps and in the houses. A total of 56,430 (72%) mosquitoes were collected from the traps. In Vallée du Kou, the original LFET caught a greater number of mosquitoes than the Medium (prototype 2), whereas no difference was observed between the other new prototypes (3 and 4) and the Medium. In Soumousso, both the original and Medium LFETs collected significantly greater numbers of mosquitoes compared to prototypes 3 and 4. Conclusion: This study has shown that the new LFET prototypes are effective in trapping mosquitoes in high mosquito density settings. A large-scale study with one of the prototypes will be needed to assess community acceptance of the traps and their ability to control malaria vectors.

Background There is a global consensus that new intervention tools are needed for the final steps toward malaria elimination/eradication. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, the Lehmann Funnel Entry Trap (LFET) has shown promising results in the reduction of mosquito densities, even in areas where insecticide resistance is as high as 80%. The LFET requires no chemicals and is self-operated. However, one of the issues with the original LFET is the size of the funnel, which often occupies too much space within users’ homes. Here, the performance of three new, smaller-sized LFET prototypes that combine a screening and killing effect on mosquitoes was assessed. Methods The study was carried out over three months during the rainy season in low and high malaria vector density sites, Soumousso and Vallée du Kou, respectively. The original LFET (or ‘Prototype 1’/’P1’) was modified to produce three new prototypes, which were referred to as Prototype 2 (‘the Medium’ or ‘P2’), Prototype 3 (P3) and Prototype 4 (P4). Each of the new prototypes was tested on eight days per month over the three-month period to assess their effectiveness in trapping and killing mosquitoes entering houses through the windows compared to the original LFET. Results Overall, 78,435 mosquitoes (mainly Anopheles gambiae sensu lato) were collected in the two study sites, both in the traps and in the houses. A total of 56,430 (72%) mosquitoes were collected from the traps. In Vallée du Kou, the original LFET caught a greater number of mosquitoes than the Medium (prototype 2), whereas no difference was observed between the other new prototypes (3 and 4) and the Medium. In Soumousso, both the original and Medium LFETs collected significantly greater numbers of mosquitoes compared to prototypes 3 and 4. Conclusion This study has shown that the new LFET prototypes are effective in trapping mosquitoes in high mosquito density settings. A large-scale study with one of the prototypes will be needed to assess community acceptance of the traps and their ability to control malaria vectors.

The sibling species An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. are major malaria vectors thought to be undergoing sympatric speciation with gene flow. In the absence of intrinsic post-zygotic isolation between the two taxa, speciation is thought possible through the association of assortative mating and genomic regions protected from gene flow by recombination suppression. Such genomic islands of speciation have been described in pericentromeric regions of the X, 2L and 3L chromosomes. Spatial swarm segregation plays a major role in assortative mating between sympatric populations of the two species and, given their importance for speciation, genes responsible for such pre-mating reproductive barriers are expected to be protected within divergence islands. In this study 2063 male and 266 female An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. individuals from natural swarms in Burkina Faso, West Africa were sampled. These were genotyped at 16 speciation island SNPs, and characterized as non-hybrid individuals, F1 hybrids or recombinant F1 + n backcrossed individuals. Their genotypes at each speciation island were associated with their participation in An. coluzzii and An. gambiae-like swarms. Despite extensive introgression between the two species, the X-island genotype of non-hybrid individuals (37.6%), F1 hybrids (0.1%) and F1 + n recombinants (62.3%) of either sex perfectly associated to each swarm type. Associations between swarm type and the 3L and 2L speciation islands were weakened or broken down by introgression. The functional demonstration of a close association between spatial segregation behaviour and the X speciation island lends further support to sympatric speciation models facilitated by pericentric recombination suppression in this important species complex.

BackgroundThere is a global consensus that new intervention tools are needed to make the final steps toward malaria elimination/eradication. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, the Lehmann Funnel Entry Trap (LFET) has shown promising results in the reduction of mosquito densities, even in areas where insecticide resistance is as high as 80%. The LFET requires no chemicals and is self-operated. However, one of the issues with the original LFET is the size of the funnel, which often occupies too much space within users’ homes. Here, we compared the performance of three new, smaller-sized LFET prototypes that combine a screening and killing effect on mosquitoes. MethodsThe study was carried out over three months during the rainy season in low and high malaria vector density sites, Soumousso and Vallée du Kou, respectively. The original LFET (or ‘Prototype 1’/’P1’) was modified to produce three new prototypes, which we will refer to as Prototype 2 (‘the Medium’ or ‘P2’), Prototype 3 (P3) and Prototype 4 (P4). Each of the new prototypes was tested on eight days per month over the three-month period to assess their effectiveness in trapping and killing mosquitoes entering houses through the windows compared to the original LFET. ResultsOverall, 78,435 mosquitoes (mainly Anopheles gambiae s.l.) were collected in the two study sites, both in the traps and in the houses. A total of 56,430 (72%) mosquitoes were collected from the traps. In Vallée du Kou, the original LFET caught a greater number of mosquitoes than the Medium (prototype 2), whereas no difference was observed between the other new prototypes (3 and 4) and the Medium. In Soumousso, the original and Medium LFETs both collected significantly greater numbers of mosquitoes compared to prototypes 3 and 4. ConclusionThis study has shown that the new LFET prototypes are effective in trapping mosquitoes in high mosquito density settings. A large-scale study with one of the prototypes will be needed to assess community acceptance of the traps and their ability to control malaria vectors.