EVALUATION OF DYNATRAP® DT160 AS AN INEXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE TO CDC TRAPS FOR ADULT MOSQUITO MONITORING IN MALI, WEST AFRICA

Mosquito monitoring traps (i.e., CDC light traps) are crucial tools for basic vector ecology research, risk assessment, and vector control programs. Unfortunately, they are expensive which is often an issue in projects conducted in developing countries. Therefore, it would be desirable to have reliable but inexpensive alternatives based on existing consumer products. We compared an off-the-shelf DynaTrap (model DT160, CCFL tube 365 ± 3 nm UV) modified to fit a CDC trap collection bag and to use a 12V power supply, with two commonly used CDC traps: CDC Miniature Light Trap Model 512 (incandescent light, 6 Volt) and CDC Miniature Downdraft Blacklight (UV) Trap Model 912 (4-Watt blue-black-light tube, 12 Volt), in different ecological settings in southwest (Kenieroba) and northwest (Nioro du Sahel) Mali, West Africa. In northwest Mali, the modified DynaTrap caught a mean of 20.67 ± 2.8 females and 5.38 ± 1.0 male Aedes aegypti which was 16.55% and 10.78% more, respectively, than the CDC incandescent trap (control). The DynaTrap caught a mean of 29.75 ± 2.8 female and 17.92 ± 3.5 male Culex quinquefasciatus. which was 47.76% and 20.70% more than the control CDC incandescent trap. The DynaTrap caught a mean of 2.46 ± 0.5 females and 1.63 ± 0.6 males and 10.16% and 2.45% more female and male An. gambiae s.l., respectively, than the CDC incandescent trap. Trap and catch means were lower at the southwest Mali site. However, trap catch proportions by sex were similar to those in the northwest. The modified DynaTrap outperformed both CDC monitoring traps for less than one third of the cost including the cost of the DynaTrap modifications.