Molasses as a source of carbon dioxide for attracting the malaria mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus

Malaria Journal

Research

Philemon Omusula¹  Bruno Otieno¹  Collins K Mweresa²  Wolfgang R Mukabana³  Joop JA van Loon⁴  Willem Takken⁴ 

[1] International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772–00100, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya;International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772–00100, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya;Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands;International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772–00100, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya;School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, PO Box 30197–00100, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya;Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands;

关键词: Carbon dioxide;    Sugar;    Sucrose;    Molasses;    Anopheles gambiae;    Anopheles funestus;    Malaria;    Mosquitoes;    Attraction;    Behaviour;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-13-160

 received in 2014-02-25, accepted in 2014-04-18,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMost odour baits for haematophagous arthropods contain carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 is sourced artificially from the fermentation of refined sugar (sucrose), dry ice, pressurized gas cylinders or propane. These sources of CO2 are neither cost-effective nor sustainable for use in remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, molasses was evaluated as a potential substrate for producing CO2 used as bait for malaria mosquitoes.MethodsThe attraction of laboratory-reared and wild Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes to CO2 generated from yeast-fermentation of molasses was assessed under semi-field and field conditions in western Kenya. In the field, responses of wild Anopheles funestus were also assessed. Attraction of the mosquitoes to a synthetic mosquito attractant, Mbita blend (comprising ammonia, L-lactic acid, tetradecanoic acid and 3-methyl-1-butanol) when augmented with CO2 generated from yeast fermentation of either molasses or sucrose was also investigated.ResultsIn semi-field, the release rate of CO2 and proportion of An. gambiae mosquitoes attracted increased in tandem with an increase in the quantity of yeast-fermented molasses up to an optimal ratio of molasses and dry yeast. More An. gambiae mosquitoes were attracted to a combination of the Mbita blend plus CO2 produced from fermenting molasses than the Mbita blend plus CO2 from yeast-fermented sucrose. In the field, significantly more female An. gambiae sensu lato mosquitoes were attracted to the Mbita blend augmented with CO2 produced by fermenting 500 g of molasses compared to 250 g of sucrose or 250 g of molasses. Similarly, significantly more An. funestus, Culex and other anopheline mosquito species were attracted to the Mbita blend augmented with CO2 produced from fermenting molasses than the Mbita blend with CO2 produced from sucrose. Augmenting the Mbita blend with CO2 produced from molasses was associated with high catches of blood-fed An. gambiae s.l. and An. funestus mosquitoes.ConclusionMolasses is a suitable ingredient for the replacement of sucrose as a substrate for the production of CO2 for sampling of African malaria vectors and other mosquito species. The finding of blood-fed malaria vectors in traps baited with the Mbita blend and CO2 derived from molasses provides a unique opportunity for the study of host-vector interactions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Mweresa et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.