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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 #404893
Research Project: Improved Surveillance and Control of Stable Flies, House Flies, and Other Filth Flies

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Field evaluation of lures as candidate attractants for coastal Culicoides in Florida

Author
item LLOYD, AARON - Lee County Mosquito District
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item HAHN, DANIEL - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Journal of the Florida Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/24/2023
Publication Date: 6/30/2023
Citation: Lloyd, A., Kline, D.L., Hahn, D. 2023. Field evaluation of lures as candidate attractants for coastal Culicoides in Florida. Journal of the Florida Mosquito Control Association. 70(1). https://doi.org/10.32473/jfmca.70.1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32473/jfmca.70.1

Interpretive Summary: This project was conducted as part of the senior author's PhD dissertation research. Biting midges are extreme nuisance pests in coastal locations at certain times of the year. There are no effective population control technologies. This research was conducted to evaluate whether or not baited traps could be effective at reducing nuisance levels in residential locations. Attractants were tested to increase trap efficiency. Results were promising but additional trapping technologies need to be developed.

Technical Abstract: Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae: Culicoides) along the coast of Florida are a severe biting nuisance that can impede outdoor activities. Methods currently available for biting midge control are limited due to environmentally sensitive larval habitats and the lack of adulticide techniques available for area-wide population suppression. Homeowners that live along the coast can protect their homes with the use of fine- meshed window screens and fans, coarse low volume adulticide applications, and adult removal via commercial mosquito traps. There are known attractants that have been used to enhance trap captures for adult mosquitoes, and it is logical to test these attractants against closely related adult hematophagous Diptera such as Culicoides. This study compared four attractant lures, octenol, BG lure, R-octenol, and USDA red blend, known to be attractive to mosquitoes, and tested them against C. furens and C. mississippiensis as an addition to increase trap capture. Although all attractants increased trap capture above the control, results from this study could not identify a lure that was significantly more attractive to Culicoides species captured in Cedar Key, Florida. Further studies evaluating species specific trap types as well as attractants are needed to develop an effective Culicoides adult trapping control system as part of an integrated biting insect control program.