65 - The Silence of the Buzz: An Innovative Attract and Kill Method for Challenging Mosquitoes

Abstract: Managing adult mosquito populations primarily relies upon ULV sprays and to a lesser extent outdoor residual sprays. Although ULV sprays can be effective, they are also limited in when and where they can be conducted due to factors including weather conditions, habitat accessibility, pesticide restrictions, time of day, and personnel availability. In addition, ULV applications have been restricted to a scant number of active ingredients. This dearth of products has helped facilitate insecticide resistance in many mosquito populations. With the goal to increase adult mosquito control through targeting mosquitoes where ULV applications are often not an option and to combat insecticide resistance we adapted the successful attract and kill strategy developed successfully for many other insects to create a Mosquito Attract and Kill Device (MAK-D). We first screened several active ingredients already EPA approved insecticides available in commercial formulations to find products that were lethal with tarsal contact and non-repellant. A prototype MAK-D was developed and tested in the field. Results showed that the MAK-D was highly attractive to mosquitoes while enticing very few non-targets insects. The AI stayed effective over the course of the study. The MAK-D shows potential as another method to control resistant and hard to spray adult mosquitoes.