Determining the abundance and distribution of male mosquitoes in the wild and establishing species seasonality in candidate pilot sites is of particular interest with respect to the use of the sterile-male technique. With the knowledge that using mice as bait in BG-Sentinel traps effectively enhances Aedes albopictus male and female trapping success, the present study was designed to determine whether attractants derived from mouse odour blend could be a viable substitute for live mice to lure Ae. albopictus mosquitoes into traps. The effects of baiting BG-Sentinel traps with mice, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and attractants derived from litter mouse odours (mouse litter (ML)) and a mouse odour blend (MOB) on the efficiency of trapping Ae. albopictus males and females were tested using a Latin square design. The BG-Sentinel trap baited with CO₂ + ML caught a significantly larger number of mosquitoes compared to traps baited with mice only. The BG-Sentinel traps containing only CO₂ or CO₂ + MOB, however, did not catch significantly more mosquitoes compared to the other traps. The proportions of males caught in the BG-Sentinel traps did not differ significantly between the respective attractants. The results from this study confirm that CO₂ bait is efficient to provide a reliable estimation method for Ae. albopictus adult male abundance in the wild, and suggest that mouse litter baits in combination with CO₂ could be used to enhance Aedes trapping success in BG-Sentinel traps.
Keywords: male mosquito; sterile insect technique (SIT); trapping.