title: Movement of Aedes aegypti following a sugar meal and its implication in the development of control strategies in Durán, Ecuador.
abstract: We evaluated how the presence of sugar sources impacted the distribution of Aedes aegypti in different habitats in Durán, Ecuador. Land cover and normalized difference vegetation index maps were used to guide a random point sampling routine to select study grids (30 m × 30 m) in low vegetation (LV) and high vegetation (HV). Five individual plants, at one home in the LV and HV grid, were treated with a different colored, non-attractive, 60% sucrose solution to determine mosquito feeding and movement. Sugar alone is not attractive to mosquitoes, so spraying vegetation with a dyed sugar solution can be used for visual determination of sugar feeding. Outdoor collections using BG sentinel traps and indoor collections using aspirators were conducted at the treatment home and with collection points at 20, 40, and 60 m surrounding the treatment home for three consecutive days. A total of 3,245 mosquitoes in two genera, Aedes and Culex, was collected. The proportion of stained Ae. aegypti females was 56.8% (510/898) and 0% for males. For Culex, 63.9% (248/388) females and 36.1% (140/388) males were collected stained. Aedes aegypti and Culex spp. were found up to 60 m stained in both LV and HV grids. Significantly more stained females Ae. aegypti were found inside homes compared to females and males of Culex spp. in both habitats. This study identifies that outdoor sugar feeding is a common behavior of Ae. aegypti and can be targeted as a control strategy in urban habitats in Latin America.
authors.affiliation: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami, FL, U.S.A. 33136.|PROMETEO, Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Whitney A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Qualls
authors.affiliation: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami, FL, U.S.A. 33136.
authors.forename: Diana P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Naranjo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Subía
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ramon
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Varsovia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cevallos
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Guayas, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grijalva
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Guayas, Ecuador.|Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami, FL, U.S.A. 33136.
authors.forename: Kristopher L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Arheart
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33136, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Douglas O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.affiliation: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami, FL, U.S.A. 33136.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beier
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003465:Culex / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004484:Ecuador; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009032:Mosquito Control; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Culex; Resting behavior; collections; mosquitoes; sugar feeding