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Abstract
Mosquito surveillance is important for entomologists, mosquito control boards and public health organizations in evaluating the ecology, biology and potential for transmission of mosquito borne disease. The performance of five adult mosquito sampling techniques (CDC light trap with and without dry ice, P. Reiter Gravid mosquito traps with hay infusion, aerial insect sweep nets and a novel vacuum suction device) were evaluated at a single location in Athens, Georgia from August, 2013 until November, 2015. The CDC light trap with dry ice caught the highest number of female Aedes albopictus, followed by the vacuum. The CDC light trap with dry ice also caught the highest percentage of females each year. The gravid trap caught more Culex spp. females in every year. The number of mosquitoes caught with both habitat harvesting (HH) methods (vacuum and sweep net) provided the strongest correlation with the numbers from the CDC light trap with dry ice.Efficacy of barrier spray treatments for residential mosquito control was evaluated in Atlanta and Athens, GA. There were three separate, complementary field trials involving application of two pyrethroid insecticides, two 25-b products, and water-only controls. The results showed that 63% of the control properties did not have detectable mosquito populations and that treated properties were significantly less likely to have mosquitoes. A separate field trial with treated hedgerows in a nonresidential setting and laboratory bioassays with the treated vegetation resulted in pyrethroid insecticides providing at least two weeks with no mosquitoes compared to one of the 25b products that provided a week of mosquito-free sampling. The contact toxicity bioassay resulted in pyrethroid insecticides providing 100% mortality 1-hour post treatment whereas 25b products resulted in less than 70% mortality.Vacuum sampling was shown to be a reliable method for assessing the presence of mosquitoes and can thus be an integral part of an IPM approach to residential mosquito control that could reduce pesticide applications by half. The 25b products tested will most likely provide contact mortality but have little residual activity highlighting the need to reduce larval breeding sites as part of a mosquito IPM program.