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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #286677
Title: Reduction of mosquito biting-pressure: spatial repellents or mosquito traps? A field comparison of seven commercially available products in Israel

Author
item REVAY, EDITA - Technion Institute
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item XUE, RUI-DE - Anastasia Mosquito Control District
item QUALLS, WHITNEY - Anastasia Mosquito Control District
item Bernier, Ulrich
item KRAVCHENKO, VASILIY - Tel Aviv University
item GATTAS, NINA - Israel Agricultural Research Organization (ARO)
item MULLER, GUNTER - Hebrew University

Submitted to: ACTA TROPICA
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/2013
Publication Date: 3/30/2013
Citation: Revay, E.E., Kline, D.L., Xue, R., Qualls, W.A., Bernier, U.R., Kravchenko, V.D., Gattas, N., Muller, G.C. 2013. Reduction of mosquito biting-pressure: spatial repellents or mosquito traps? A field comparison of seven commercially available products in Israel. ACTA TROPICA. 127:63-68.

Interpretive Summary: Scientists from the Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, collaborated with scientists from Technion, the National Health Maintenance Organization in Nazareth, Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University, the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and Anastasia Mosquito Control District (St. Augustine, FL) to study seven commercially products designed to protect people from mosquito attack. Results indicated that repellent products provided differing levels of protection. The trapping systems did not provide a significant reduction in mosquito attack, except for one configuration using four traps dispersed in an area. The results of this study benefit people at risk of mosquito attack throughout the world, and may be of specific use to government agencies that rely on studies of repellents and mosquito trapping for guidance on whether a product or system is recommended or not.

Technical Abstract: The personal protection capability of seven commercially available mosquito control devices (MCD) is compared under field conditions in Israel. Trials were performed in a high biting-pressure area inhabited by large populations of mosquito and biting midge species and using human volunteers for landing catch experiments. Under low air-movement, three repellent based products (ThermaCELL® Patio Lantern, OFF!®PowerPad lamp, and Terminix® ALLCLEAR Tabletop Mosquito Repeller) significantly reduced the biting-pressure (t-test – P'0.01) when positioned at short distances from a human volunteer (3, 7.5, and 10 feet), with the ThermaCELL unit being most effective (96.1%, 89.9%, and 76.66% reduction, respectively). No significant differences existed between the three aforementioned devices at distances of 3 and 7.5 feet, while at a distance of 10 feet, the ThermaCELL patio lantern repelled significantly more mosquitoes then the Terminix ALLCLEAR Tabletop Mosquito Repeller (t-test, P<0.05). In contrast, mosquito traps using attracants to bait mosquitoes (Dynatrap®, Vortex® Electronic Insect Trap, Blue Rhino®SV3100) either significantly increased or had no effect on the biting-pressure at short distances compared with the unprotected control. Trials conducted over large areas showed that only the Blue Rhino trap was able to significantly reduce the biting- (40.1% reduction), but this was only achieved by operating four units at the corners of an intermediate sized area.