Waterproof low-cost, high-battery-life sound trap for surveillance of male Aedes aegypti for rear-and-release mosquito control programmes

Authors: RHODE, B - University Of Florida; STAUNTON, K - James Cook University; ZEAK, N - University Of Florida; BEEBE, N - Non ARS Employee; SNOAD, N - Non ARS Employee; BONDARENCO, A - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); LIDDINGTON, C - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); ANDERSON, J - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); XIANG, W - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); Mankin, Richard; RITCHIE, S - James Cook University

Submitted to: Parasites & Vectors
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/24/2019
Publication Date: 9/6/2019
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6631723
Citation: Rhode, B., Staunton, K., Zeak, N., Beebe, N., Snoad, N., Bondarenco, A., Liddington, C., Anderson, J., Xiang, W., Mankin, R.W., Ritchie, S. 2019. Waterproof low-cost, high-battery-life sound trap for surveillance of male Aedes aegypti for rear-and-release mosquito control programmes. Parasites & Vectors. 12:417. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3647-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3647-9

Interpretive Summary: Sterile male rear and release programs are of growing interest for controlling Aedes mosquitoes that transmit dengue and Zika fever to humans. To be effective, these programs require monitoring of both male and Aedes mosquitoes. Scientists in Australia at James Cook University, CSIRO, the University of Queensland, and scientists at the University of Florida and the USDA, Agricultural Research Service,Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida, developed a low-cost, power-optimized trap that captures male and female Aedes mosquitoes with the same efficiency as higher-cost standard mosquito monitoring traps that require line power. Use of these traps enables the rear and release programs to protect urban areas at lower cost and enables the programs to operate in remote areas without utility service.

Technical Abstract: • Background: Sterile male rear and release programs are of growing interest for controlling Aedes aegypti, including use an “incompatible insect technique” (IIT) to suppress vectoring of dengue, Zika, and other viruses. Under IIT, males infected with Wolbachia are released into the suppression area to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility in uninfected populations. These and similar mosquito-release programs require cost-effective field surveys of both sexes to optimize the locations, timing, and quantity of releases. Unfortunately, traps that sample male Ae. aegypti effectively are expensive and usually require mains power. Recently, an electronic lure was developed that attracts males using a 120-s, on-off sinusoidal tone mimicking the female wingbeat frequencies. When deployed in commercially available gravid Aedes traps (GATs), the new combination, sound-GAT (SGAT), captures both males and females effectively. Given its success, there is interest in optimizing SGAT to reduce cost and power usage while maximizing catch rates. Options considered in this report included use of a smaller, lower-power microcontroller (Tiny) with either the original or a lower-cost speaker (lcS), each producing the 120-s or a 30-s tone to counter potential effects of habituation. The original SGAT was compared against other traps incorporating the Tiny-based lures for mosquito capture in a large semi-field cage. The catch rates in waterproofed versions of this trap then were compared with catch rates in standard (BG-Sentinel 2 [BGS 2]; Biogents AG, Regensburg, Germany) traps during an IIT field study in the Innisfail region of Queensland, Australia in 2017. • Results: The system with a low-power microcontroller and low-cost speaker playing a 30-s tone (Tiny-lcS-30s) caught the highest proportion of males. The mean proportions of males caught in a semi-field cage were not significantly different among the original design and low-power, low-cost versions of the SGAT. During the IIT field study, the waterproofed version of the highest-rated, Tiny-lcS-30s SGAT captured male Ae. aegypti at similar rates as co-located BGS-2 traps. • Conclusions: Power- and cost-optimized, waterproofed versions of male Ae. aegypti acoustic lures in GATs are now available for field use in areas with sterile male mosquito rear-and-release programs.