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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 #342876
Title: A comparison of the Nzi, Horse Pal and Bite-Lite H-traps and selected baits for the collection of adult Tabanidae in Florida and North Carolina

Author
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item Hogsette, Jerome - Jerry
item RUTZ, DONALD - Cornell University

Submitted to: Journal of Vector Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/28/2017
Publication Date: 6/1/2018
Citation: Kline, D.L., Hogsette, Jr, J.A., Rutz, D.A. 2018. A comparison of the Nzi, Horse Pal and Bite-Lite H-traps and selected baits for the collection of adult Tabanidae in Florida and North Carolina. Journal of Vector Ecology. 43(1):63-70. doi:10.1111/jvec.12284.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12284

Interpretive Summary: This research was a collaborative project conducted by scientists affiliated with the USDA_ARS, CMAVE, Gainesville, FL and the Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. The major objective of this research was to determine the best tabanid surveillance trap to use at our study sites. Background data showed that the responses of various tabanid species may differ depending on trap type, attractant, or trap-attractant combination utilized. Establishing the best trap-attractant combination for our geographic area of concern was important in the development of a tabanid population management strategy and the subsequent monitoring of its success. A second objective was to determine if the selected trap was robust enough for the environmental challenges of this geographic area. The results of the study indicated that the H-trap, variously baited, was the most suitable trap for our location.

Technical Abstract: Adult tabanids, which includes horse flies, deer flies and yellow flies, have both veterinary and medical importance. Despite this importance only a few trap types have been evaluated to monitor adult population dynamics. Currently, three trap types are being utilized (H-trap, Horse Pal® [HP] and Nzi trap), but no head-to-head comparisons have been reported. Thus, we conducted comparative trapping studies in Florida and North Carolina. At two study sites in Florida the efficacy of all three trap types was compared; in North Carolina only the H-trap and H P were compared. While trap type was significant at all sites, the trap type which caught the most specimens was not the same. In Florida at the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge site, the H-trap caught the most specimens (2006) followed in decreasing order by Nzi (938) and HP (541). At the Cedar Ridge Ranch site the Nzi caught significantly more specimens (1439) than the H-trap (215) and HP (161), which were not significantly different from each other. In North Carolina the H-trap caught ca. twice as many specimens as the HP (1458 vs 720). These trap comparison studies were followed up by a study on the efficacy of various bait combinations (No Bait (NB), dry ice only (DI), Trap Tech Lure (TTL) only and DI + TTL), which was conducted only at the two Florida sites with H-traps. At both sites the bait combinations significantly affected trap collections. One pattern (DI +TTL > DI > TTL > NB) was recorded at the LSWR and a similar pattern was recorded at the Cedar River Ranch (DI > DI +TTL > TTL > NB). These studies showed that trap type and bait combination significantly influence overall abundance as well as individual species abundance.