Design and testing of a novel cost-effective lethal ovitrap for the control of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1762)

Abstract

An indigenous, novel, cost-effective, non-electric lethal ovitrap was designed for the dengue vector. The bacteria Bacillus cereus VCRC 641 was grown in a cost-effective culture medium of chicken feather waste. The culture supernatant was used as ovitrap attraction of the dengue vector of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1762). Twenty experiments with 80 ovitraps, three experiments with 15,000 ovitraps, and three experiments with 3,000 ovitraps in the laboratory, outdoor and households respectively conducted, to assess the efficacy, showed that the ovitrap with B. cereus culture supernatant (10%) significantly attracted the gravid A. aegypti to lay eggs in all experimental traps. More importantly, the first instar larvae from the eggs on the traps had the mortality immediately. The novelty of this trap is proved to exhibit a dual function for attracting gravid mosquitoes and killing the newly emerged larvae. This is the first report asserting the dual role of a cost-effective, non-electric ovitrap to control dengue vectors. The ovitrap contains only simple components of a plastic bowl, a cylinder, and a plastic plate. The total cost of these materials per trap was Rs15 only. The laboratory study showed that the experimental ovitrap attracted >10 times the control traps (experimental: 1465.90±251.48 and control: 140.00±23.95). This is the first report about the efficacy of an indigenously designed lethal ovitrap for attracting dengue vector.