STORY LEAD:
New Mosquito Trap in Time for Summer
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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Tara Weaver-Missick, (301) 504-1619, tweaver@asrr.arsusda.gov
July 13, 1999
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Mosquitoes are in for trouble this summer, thanks to a new trap that
effectively attracts and kills mosquitoes and biting flies. The trap was
co-developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between
Agricultural Research Service and BioSensory, Inc., of Willimantic, Conn.
The trap, registered under the trade name Dragonfly, was named for the
insect that is a mosquito predator. The trap lures mosquitoes with a blend
of carbon dioxide, heat and octenol, the same chemical cues that attract
mosquitoes and other biting insects in nature. Mosquitoes find their human
and animal blood meals first by sensing carbon dioxide in breath. Mosquitoes
can sense carbon dioxide up to 100 feet away. They also can find their prey
using heat sensors on their antennae.
The trap mimics the human or animal blood system, which helps lure
mosquitoes to the trap. The difference is that when mosquitoes hone in on
the target and stop to dine, they are killed with an electronic pulse and
fall into a removable tray. That's a big advantage over traditional
electrical bug-zapping type traps that splatter the insect everywhere into
tiny bits.
Entomologist Daniel L. Kline, with ARS' Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, part
of the Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in
Gainesville, Fla., conducted field studies showing that the trap was
effective in capturing mosquitoes.
The attractants are registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
for controlling mosquitoes and other biting insects. ARS and BioSensory have
a joint patent on the attractants used in the trap, with one patent pending.
The trap should be commercially available this summer from BioSensory.
Questions regarding the availability and costs should be directed to the
company's marketing vice president, William A. Gregoricus.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
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Scientific contact: Daniel L. Kline, ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural
and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Fla., phone (352) 374-5933, fax
(352) 374-5922, dkline@gainesville.usda.ufl.edu. William A. Gregoricus,
BioSensory, Inc., Willimantic, Conn., phone (860) 423-3009, fax (860)
423-3028, biosensory.corp@snet.net, www.biosensory.com.
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20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.
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