Montgomery County, PA

The immature stages (egg, larva and pupa) of mosquito development require the presence of stagnant water. The stagnant water can be in a container as small as a bottle cap to a wetland of many acres in size. The most common method used to determine if water is breeding mosquitoes is referred to as “dipping”.

 

Three types of traps are utilized to conduct adult surveillance throughout Montgomery County. The traps give us information on mosquito population, species present, effectiveness of control measures and viral activity. 

 

The light trap simulates a live host for mosquitoes seeking a blood meal.  It takes advantage of the mosquito’s ability to zero-in on carbon dioxide emitted from the hosts exhaled breathe.  Dry ice, which is the solid form of carbon dioxide, is used to mimic a hosts exhaled breathe and functions as the primary attractant for this trap.  Light traps are hung from tree branches of fence posts usually around eye level.

 

The gravid trap is designed to capture female mosquitoes looking for a location to deposit their eggs.  A container of highly organic, foul smelling water, which mosquitoes find irresistible, is used to attract the gravid (pregnant) mosquitoes.  This trap is set on the ground in shaded areas and is highly effective on mosquitoes from the Culex genus, the primary vectors of West Nile Virus. 

 

The BG-sentinel trap utilizes lures that closely imitate the odors of human skin.  This trap is very successful in collecting hard-to-trap day biting mosquitoes.  This trap is set on ground level and away from direct sunlight.

 

 

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