Leg. Mboera et al., Comparison of carbon dioxide-baited trapping systems for sampling outdoor mosquito populations in Tanzania, MED VET ENT, 14(3), 2000, pp. 257-263
For collecting mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) the outdoor catching efficie
ncy of four types of trapping devices baited with carbon dioxide (CO2, 300
ml/min) was evaluated and compared in two areas of Tanzania. The types of t
raps employed were: the CDC miniature trap with the incandescent light bulb
switched on or off; electric nets (ENT) and a Counterflow Geometry (CFG) t
rap. In Njage, south-east Tanzania, Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto w
as the most abundant of the seven mosquito species obtained, comprising of
74.3% of the total number caught (n = 2171). In Muheza, north-east Tanzania
, Culex quinquefasciatus Say was the predominant species (90.9%) among 1080
caught. At both localities the CFG trap was superior to the CDC trap with
light-on or light-off for sampling both An. gambiae and Cx. quinquefasciatu
s. Efficiency of the CFG trap and ENT were similar for sampling these speci
es of mosquitoes (P > 0.05). However, ENT was superior to the CDC trap with
light-off for collecting both species. Significantly more (P < 0.05) Cx. q
uinquefasciatus were obtained by the CDC trap with light-off than with ligh
t-on, especially outdoors. It is concluded that both ENT and the CFG are ef
fective tools for sampling populations of An. gambiae and Cx. quinquefascia
tus outdoors.