Control of Aedes albopictus with attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) and potential impact on non-target organisms in St. Augustine, Florida

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of bait stations and foliar applications containing attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) and eugenol to control Aedes albopictus. At the same time the potential impact of these control methods was evaluated on non-target organisms. The study was conducted at five tire sites in St. Augustine, Florida. Aedes albopictus populations were significantly reduced with ATSB-eugenol applications applied directly to non-flowering vegetation and as bait stations compared with non-attractive sugar baits and control. The application of ATSB made to non-flowering vegetation resulted in more significant reductions of mosquito populations compared to the application of ATSB presented in a bait station. Over 5.5% of the non-targets were stained in the flowering vegetation application site. However, when the attractive sugar bait application was made to non-flowering vegetation or presented in bait stations the impact on non-target insects was very low for all non-target orders as only 0.6% of the individual insects were stained with the dye from the sugar solutions, respectively. There were no significant differences between the staining of mosquitoes collected in flowering vegetation (206/1000) or non-flowering vegetation (242/1000) sites during the non-target evaluation. Our field studies support the use of eugenol as an active ingredient for controlling the dengue vector Ae. albopictus when used as an ATSB toxin and demonstrates potential use in sub-tropical and tropical environments for dengue control.

Assessment of synthetic floral-based attractants and sugar baits to capture male and female Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

“…The technique has resulted in substantial reductions in the mosquito populations at the sites where it has been tested [20–23]. Aedes albopictus control programs have also had similar success with ATSB [24–26]. …”

RNA Interference for Mosquito and Mosquito-Borne Disease Control

“…RNAi knockdown in larvae by per os exposure is efficacious using scalable bacterial and yeast expression systems, demonstrating potential for RNAi in larval control applications [13,27]. Novel interventions have also been explored to provide oral applications to adults in the form of Attractive Toxic Sugar Baits (ATSB) [28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37]. Formulations for ATSBs include simple sucrose solutions and complex mixtures of fruit sugars with minimal effects on non-target organisms [30,36,38].…”

“…Formulations can be delivered either via spraying on plant sources or in bait stations. Surprisingly high ATSB efficacy has been found in spray formulations on flowering and non-flowering plants in arid and wet climates [30,31,35,36,39]. Additionally, strategically placed ATSB stations near breeding sites (dubbed Attractive Baited Oviposition Trap, ABOT) or indoors can attract and kill vector species in proximity to people [32,33,40,41].…”

Reducing the Risk of Zika and other Arboviruses by Rapidly Eliminating Aedes albopictus Larvae from Tires Using a Spray Formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis.

“…Aerial application and truck mounted ULV appear to have only negligible and short term effect in reducing adult Ae albopictus populations at tire sites. Baited eugenol pesticide using backpack sprayers and bait stations have been used to effectively reduce adult Aedes populations at tire sites in Florida (Revay et al 2014). For larval mosquito control, removal of tires and hand tossed granular pesticide application can be effective (GarzaRobledo et al 2011, Yee et al 2015).…”