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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 #356742
Research Project: Biting Arthropod Surveillance and Control

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: A new approach to improve acoustic trapping effectiveness for Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Author
item PANTOJA-SANCHEZ, HOOVER - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA
item VARGAS, JESUS - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA
item RUIZ-LOPEZ, FREDDY - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA
item RUA-URIBE, GUILLERMO - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA
item VELEZ, VIVIANA - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item BERNAL, XIMENA - UNIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2019
Publication Date: 11/15/2019
Citation: Pantoja-Sanchez, H., Vargas, J.F., Ruiz-Lopez, F., Rua-Uribe, G., Velez, V., Kline, D.L., Bernal, X.E. 2019. A new approach to improve acoustic trapping effectiveness for Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology. 44(2):216-222. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12352.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12352

Interpretive Summary: Mosquito-borne diseases represent a global public health threat. More than one million people die annually due to vector-borne diseases. Malaria alone is responsible for 400,000 deaths a year and mainly affecting children under 5 years old. This work describes the development of a novel device for improved monitoring of mosquito populations using acoustics. These studies were conducted indoors, and outdoors under semi-field conditions. Overall, the acoustic trap's efficacy differed significantly between indoor and semi-field conditions. Increasing the intensity of acoustic signals synthesized from recordings of wingbeats resulted in enhanced male and female mosquito capture.

Technical Abstract: Monitoring mosquito populations is essential to design and implement control strategies. Recent strategies, for instance, based on releasing biologically modified mosquitoes have increased the need to effectively monitor mosquito abundance. Unfortunately, existing surveillance traps are of limited value due to their high cost and low capture rates. Here, we report the results of experiments designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an acoustic trap prototype. Stimuli synthesized from recordings of Ae. aegypti wingbeat signals, and artificial pure tones, were evaluated as attractants in indoor and semi-field conditions. Overall, the acoustic trap´s efficacy differed significantly between indoor and semi-field conditions. After two hours of indoor recapture, ~69% of males were collected from acoustic traps broadcasting pure tones while ~78% of males were collected using synthesized wingbeat signals. Under semi-field conditions, however, acoustic traps collected less than ~1.7% of the males released. Indoor conditions were also more favorable for collecting females. Traps broadcasting synthesized signals collected ~33% of the females released during indoor trials, ~12% more than a trap broadcasting no sound. Under semi field conditions, however, traps using synthesized signals collected a comparable number of females to those collected using a BG Sentinel trap. Increasing the intensity of the signals up to 90 dB (SPL re. 20 uPa at 1 m) did not improve the capture rate for males under semi-field conditions. Overall, our results indicate that acoustic signals synthesized from recordings of wingbeats can be used to enhance Ae. aegypti male and female capture.