Original Research

The suitability of the Triple trap for the collection of South African livestock-associated Culicoides species

Gert J. Venter, Karien Labuschagne, Solomon N.B. Boikanyo, Liesl Morey
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association | Vol 84, No 1 | a994 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v84i1.994 | © 2013 Gert J. Venter, Karien Labuschagne, Solomon N.B. Boikanyo, Liesl Morey | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 24 January 2013 | Published: 05 November 2013

About the author(s)

Gert J. Venter, Parasites, Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases Programme, Agricultural Research Council Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa and Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Karien Labuschagne, Parasites, Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases Programme, Agricultural Research Council Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa and Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Solomon N.B. Boikanyo, Parasites, Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases Programme, Agricultural Research Council Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa
Liesl Morey, Agricultural Research Council-Biometry Unit, South Africa

Abstract

The relatively large number of Culicoides midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) that can be collected with a light trap makes it the most widely used tool for this purpose. However, the majority of these traps were originally designed for collecting mosquitoes. The evaluation and improvement of traps to increase their effectiveness in collecting Culicoides midges will unavoidably form part of research on these insects. In the present study the efficiency of the Triple trap for collecting livestock-associated Culicoides midges was compared with that of the Onderstepoort 220 V, the BG-sentinel and the mini-CDC traps. A unique feature of the Triple trap is that selected surfaces are coated with TiO2 (titanium dioxide) which, in the presence of ultra violet light, acts as a photo-catalyser to produce CO2, which in turn may attract blood-feeding insects. Overall, the Onderstepoort trap collected significantly higher numbers of midges than the others. Relative efficiency varied between different occasions and under some conditions, for example periods with low midge abundance during the winter, the mean numbers collected with the Triple trap did not differ significantly from those of the Onderstepoort or BG-sentinel traps. By replacing the collection chamber of the Triple trap with a sock and beaker, similar to that of the Onderstepoort trap, it can effectively be used for the collection of Culicoides midges.

Keywords

African horse sickness; Bluetongue; C. imicola; collection

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