Influence of light and kairomone baiting systems on trap collections of biting midges in southern Sweden

Abstract

Effective surveillance is essential for protecting livestock from Culicoides biting midges and the viruses they transmit. The objective of this study was to determine how the baiting system used in traps (UV, incandescent light, incandescent light with CO2, and incandescent light with CO2 and 1‐octen‐3‐ol) influences estimates of midge population abundance, parity, and diel activity. This was achieved through a standardized trapping protocol conducted in three habitats in Sweden. UV light traps caught the most Culicoides species and more C. obsoletus complex females than incandescent light traps. Traps baited with CO2 plus 1‐octen‐3‐ol caught more female C. impunctatus than incandescent light traps. No consistent effect of bait type was found on C. obsoletus parity rate, as estimated from the proportion of midges with presence or absence of pigmentation. Midge activity, as reflected by trap catches, peaked between ‐3 h and +3 h relative to sunset, with UV traps catching significantly more female C. obsoletus complex and C. impunctatus at and after sunset than before sunset. We conclude that baiting system can influence biting midge collections, even using identical traps. Effective surveillance may require more than one bait type and kairomones to attract species that do not feed exclusively on cattle.

Evaluation of light emitting diode suction traps for the collection of livestock‐associated Culicoides species in South Africa

“…The standard Onderstepoort 220‐V fluorescent UV light collected significantly higher numbers than the 12‐V white and 12‐V UV LED traps. These observations confirmed the well‐established greater attractiveness of UV for Culicoides midges compared to either white fluorescent (Venter & Hermanides, 2006) or white incandescent light sources (Rowley & Jorgensen, 1967; Sloyer et al ., 2019; Bray et al ., 2020).…”

“…The attractiveness of UV light, compared to other wavelengths of light, to nocturnal insects is well‐known (Pohe et al ., 2017). The greater attractiveness of UV light was also confirmed for proven biting midge vectors of viruses harmful to livestock such as Culicoides imicola Kieffer (Rowley & Jorgensen, 1967; Venter & Hermanides, 2006; Sloyer et al ., 2019; Bray et al ., 2020). Similarly green light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) were shown to be equal or more attractive than UV light for some species of Culicoides (Bishop et al ., 2006; Harrup et al ., 2016).…”

Positive Phototaxis of Pulse Weevil, Callosobruchus chinensis under the Influence of Artificial Light

“…Therefore development of an effective but safe method is need of hours. Controlling methods by using different baited traps with various semiochemicals or pheromones gaining popularity (Bray et al, 2020) but the most simple method to build a trap is using light which is more cost effective and easy to use for various stored grain insect pests (Abbas et al, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Meiswinkel and Elbers, 2016).…”

Comparison of surveillance trapping methods to monitor Culicoides biting midge activity in Trinidad, West Indies

“…Variation arises both according to the trap design itself, with variation in size, suction, light source and the type of attractant used (Harrup et al, 2012 , 2016 ; Venter et al, 2015 ). To address this issue, a wide range of studies have examined the comparative effectiveness of different trap designs and attractants in collecting Culicoides across the world in Australia (Bishop et al, 2006 ), Europe (Bray et al, 2020 ), India (Harrup et al, 2016 ), North America (Mullens & Gerry, 1998 ) and South Africa (Venter & Hermanides, 2006 ; Venter et al, 2009 ; Scheffer et al, 2012 ). Systematic comparisons of different attractants using the same trap design platform have been conducted for light wavelength (Bishop et al, 2006 ; Gonzalez et al, 2016 ; Harrup et al, 2016 ; Hope et al, 2015 ) and semiochemicals (Bhasin et al, 2001 ; Harrup et al, 2012 ) and revealed species‐specific responses to these parameters.…”