Enhancement of Aedes albopictus collections by ovitrap and sticky adult trap.
BACKGROUND
In the last decades, Aedes albopictus has become an increasing public health threat in tropical as well as in more recently invaded temperate areas due to its capacity to transmit several human arboviruses, among which Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. Enhancing the efficiency of currently used collection approaches, such as ovitraps and sticky traps, is desirable for optimal monitoring of the species abundance, for assessment of the risk of arbovirus transmission and for the optimisation of control activities.


RESULTS
Two sets of 4 × 4 Latin-square experiments were carried out in Tirana (Albania) to test whether modifications in ovitrap shape and size and in oviposition substrate would increase collections of Ae. albopictus eggs and whether hay-infusion would increase adult catches by sticky trap. Generalized Linear Mixed Models with negative binomial error distribution were carried out to analyse the data. Cylindrical ovitraps lined with germination paper yielded significantly higher egg catches than those exploiting either the (commonly used) wooden paddles or floating polystyrene blocks as oviposition substrates. No difference was observed between cylindrical and conical shaped ovitraps. Ovitraps and sticky traps baited with hay infusion yielded significantly higher egg and adult catches than un-baited ones. A significant relationship between ovitrap and sticky trap catches was observed both in the absence and in the presence of attractants, with ovitrap catches increasing more than sticky trap catches at increasing adult female densities.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides grounds for optimisation of ovitraps and sticky traps as monitoring tools for Ae. albopictus by (i) supporting use of germination paper as most appropriate oviposition substrate; (ii) suggesting the possible use of stackable conical ovitraps for large scale monitoring; (iii) confirming the use of hay-infusion to increase egg catches in ovitraps, and showing that hay-infusion also significant increases adult catches by sticky traps.
Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania. keladikolli@yahoo.com.
Enkelejda
E
Velo
Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.
Perparim
P
Kadriaj
National Veterinary Epidemiology Unit, Food Safety and Veterinary Institute, Tirana, Albania.
Kujtim
K
Mersini
Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana, Albania.
Ada
A
Shukullari
Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana, Albania.
Blerta
B
Manxhari
Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.
Artan
A
Simaku
Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.
Adrian
A
Hoxha
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Università di Roma "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
Beniamino
B
Caputo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Parma, Italy.
Luca
L
Bolzoni
Dipartimento di Biodiversità ed Ecologia Molecolare, Centro Ricerca e Innovazione, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
Roberto
R
Rosà
Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.
Silvia
S
Bino
Insects and Infectious Disease Unit, Institute Pasteur, Paris, France.
Paul
P
Reiter
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Università di Roma "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
Alessandra
A
della Torre
D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010058:Oviposition
Aedes; Albania; Europe; Hay-infusion; Mosquito monitoring; Mosquito surveillance; Ovitrap; Sticky trap