Field evaluation of four widely used mosquito traps in Central Europe

Abstract

BackgroundTo monitor adult mosquitoes several trapping devices are available. These are differently constructed and use various mechanisms for mosquito attraction, thus resulting in different trapping sensitivities and efficacies for the various species. Mosquito monitoring and surveillance programs in Europe use various types of mosquito traps, but only a few comparisons have been conducted so far. This study compared the performance of four commercial trapping devices, which are commonly used in Europe.MethodsFour different traps, Biogents Sentinel trap (BG trap), Heavy Duty Encephalitis Vector Survey trap (EVS trap), Centres for Disease Control miniature light trap (CDC trap) and Mosquito Magnet Patriot Mosquito trap (MM trap) were compared in a 4 × 4 latin square study. In the years 2012 and 2013, more than seventy 24-hour trap comparisons were conducted at ten different locations in northern and southern Germany, representing urban, forest and floodplain biotopes.ResultsPer 24-hour trapping period, the BG trap caught the widest range of mosquito species, the highest number of individuals of the genus Culex as well as the highest number of individuals of the species Ochlerotatus cantans, Aedes cinereus/geminus, Oc. communis and Culex pipiens/torrentium. The CDC trap revealed best performance for Aedes vexans, whereas the MM trap was most efficient for mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles and the species Oc. geniculatus. The EVS trap did not catch more individuals of any genus or species compared to the other three trapping devices. The BG trap caught the highest number of individuals per trapping period in urban environments as well as in wet forest, while the CDC trap caught the highest number of individuals in the floodplain biotopes. Additionally, the BG trap was most efficient for the number of mosquito species in urban locations.ConclusionThe BG trap showed a significantly better or similar performance compared to the CDC, EVS or MM trap with regard to trapping efficacy for most common mosquito species in Germany, including diversity of mosquito species and number of mosquitoes per trapping period. Thus, the BG trap is probably the best solution for general monitoring or surveillance programs of adult mosquitoes in Central Europe.

Mosquito Traps: An Innovative, Environmentally Friendly Technique to Control Mosquitoes

“…Various mosquito traps are commercially available for public consumers to reduce the mosquito nuisance and/or decrease the risk of mosquito-borne illness [8]. Could a network of traps be used as a protecting belt around inhabited areas to improve human comfort while preserving wetland biodiversity?…”

Distribution of individual members of the mosquito Anopheles maculipennis complex in Germany identified by newly developed real‐time PCR assays

“…All trapping methods can be considered to have a different trapping efficacy for the various mosquito species (Silver, ; Lühken et al. , ). However, this has not yet evaluated for the different members of the An.…”

Trapping biases ofCulex torrentiumandCulex pipiensrevealed by comparison of captures in CDC traps, ovitraps, and gravid traps

“…Several studies have indicated that abundance data from CDC traps underestimate many mosquito species (DiMenna et al 2006, Giberson et al 2007, Jansen et al 2009). For Culex species, it appears that some are more attracted to cues other than carbon dioxide from dry ice, such as different avian odors (Allan et al 2006, Shone et al 2006, Lühken et al 2014, and that traps using light collect fewer females of Cx. quinquefasciatus than traps without light , Mboera et al 2000a.…”