Tsetse and other biting fly responses to Nzi traps baited with octenol, phenols and acetone

Abstract

Octenol (1-octen-3-ol), acetone, 4-methylphenol, 3-n-propylphenol, and other potential attractants (human urine, stable fly faeces), as well as guiacol, creosol (potential repellents), were tested as baits for biting flies in North America using standard phthalogen blue IF3GM cotton Nzi traps, or similar commercial polyester traps. Baits were tested during the summers of 2001-04 at a residence in Canada and during January-August 2001 at a dairy in the U.S.A. Behaviour in the presence of octenol was also studied by intercepting flies approaching a trap through the use of transparent adhesive film. Analogous bait and/or trap comparisons were conducted in natural settings in June 1996 in Kenya and in September-December 1997 in Ethiopia. In Canada, catches of five of six common tabanids (Tabanus similis Macquart, Tabanus quinquevittatus Wiedemann, Hybomitra lasiophthalma [Macquart], Chrysops univittatus Macquart, Chrysops aberrans Philip) and the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans L. were increased significantly by 1.2-2.1 times with octenol (1.5 mg/h). Catches of T. quinquevittatus and S. calcitrans were 3.5-3.6 times higher on a sticky enclosure surrounding a trap baited with octenol. No other baits or bait combinations had an effect on trap catches in North America. In Ethiopia, standard Nzi traps baited with a combination of acetone, octenol and cattle urine caught 1.8-9.9 times as many Stomoxys as similarly baited epsilon, pyramidal, NG2G, S3, biconical and canopy traps, in order of decreasing catch. When baits were compared, catches in Nzi traps of six stable fly species, including S. calcitrans, were not affected by octenol (released at approximately 1 mg/h), or cattle urine (140 mg/h), used alone or in combination with acetone (890 mg/h). Acetone alone, however, significantly increased the catches of common Stomoxys such as Stomoxys niger niger Macquart, Stomoxys taeniatus Bigot, and S. calcitrans by 2.4, 1.6 and 1.9 times, respectively. Catches of Glossina pallidipes Austen were increased significantly in traps baited with acetone, urine or octenol, or any combination, relative to those in unbaited traps (1.4-3.6x). Catches of Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newstead were increased significantly by 1.5-1.7 times, but only when baits were used individually. Unlike other studies with East African tsetse, catches of both tsetse species with the complete bait combination (acetone, urine and octenol) did not differ from those in unbaited traps. Experiments with an incomplete ring of electric nets surrounding a Nzi trap, and a new approach using a sticky enclosure made from transparent adhesive film, revealed diverse responses to artificial objects and baits among biting flies. In Kenya, daily trap efficiency estimates for traps baited with either carbon dioxide (6 L/min) or a combination of acetone, cattle urine and octenol were 21-27% for G. pallidipes, 7-36% for Glossina longipennis Corti, 27-33% for S. n. niger, and 19-33% for Stomoxys niger bilineatus Grünberg, assuming 100% electrocution efficiency. Actual trap ...

Olfaction in vector-host interactions

“…In work carried out in North America (Cilek 1999), release of 1-octen-3-ol from alsynite cylinders was not associated with increased stable fly catch, though acetone (50 mg/hr) or a mixture of phenols were. Finally, a series of studies carried out in North America and Africa (Mihok et al 2007) using Nzi traps yielded similarly mixed results, i.e. 1-octenol sometimes was associated with modest increases in catch, and sometimes not.…”

“…These same authors also reported that traps baited with acetone (890 mg/hr) in Ethiopia caught about twice as many flies as unbaited traps, but increases were not evident when acetone was combined with 1-octen-3-ol and/or cattle urine. Mihok et al (2007) put forward an interesting hypothesis to explain the variable results for 1-octen-3-ol. Specifically that it is not efficacious when presented in combination baits or in areas where livestock are near.…”

“…It has been around these technologies that most odour-based research has been carried out. With the exception of a few studies where trap efficiency was also considered (Mihok et al 2007, Schofield 1998, the bulk of the field work on Stomoxyinae has used a behavioural endpoint, i.e. trap catch, as the outcome measure.…”

New records for Turkish Tabanidae (Insecta: Diptera) fauna

“…Numerous studies about distribution, systematics and sampling methods of horse flies species have been carried out around the world during the last thirty years (French & Kline, 1989;Phelps & Holloway 1992;Hribar et al, 1992;Hayes et al, 1993;Leprince et al, 1994;Krčmar et al, 2005b;2006;Krčmar, 2005aKrčmar, , 2007Mihok et al, 2007;Cilek & Olson, 2008;Andreeva et al, 2009;Mihok & Mulye, 2010;Kılıç, 2001aKılıç, , 2001bKılıç, , 2001cKılıç, , 2002Kılıç, , 2003Kılıç, , 2005Altunsoy et al, 2010;Altunsoy & Kılıç, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c.…”

Morphological Identification of Horse Flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) and Estimation of their Seasonal Abundance in Al-Showak District, Gedaref State, Eastern Sudan

“…Efficacy of tabanid traps is mainly increased by the addition of chemicals that mimic natural host odors [17]. Besides these synthetic attractants, some natural attractants such as the old urine of cows or African buffalo, horses, and rhinoceros are known mainly for tsetse species (Glossinidae) and Tabanidae [18], [19], [20], [21].…”