U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
2005
Citation
Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 21(2):229–233, 2005
Abstract
A synthetic blend of chemicals comprising volatiles released by the human body has been shown to be an effective attractant for female Aedes aegypti in olfactometer bioassays with laboratory-reared mosquitoes. We report the laboratory evaluation of Ae. aegypti response to a synthetic blend tested with 4 types of mosquito traps (CDC model 512, CDC model 1012, CFG, and Fay–Prince traps). Aedes aegypti females were attracted significantly by the blend. The higher release rate of attractant (320.2 ± 10.71 mg/h) more efficiently attracted mosquitoes than the lower release rate (42.0 ± 2.3 mg/h). Although both the Fay–Prince and CFG traps caught higher number of mosquitoes than the other traps, only the CFG trap caught a statistically significant greater number of mosquitoes. The results suggest that the synthetic blend is effective in attracting Ae. aegypti females under controlled laboratory conditions (i.e., a closed system). Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of this blend in baited traps under field conditions.