Comparative capture rate responses of mosquito vectors to light trap and human landing collection methods

Landing rates (LR) of female Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Culex nigripalpus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Ochlerotatus triseriatus and Aedes albopictus on human hosts were compared with capture rates responses by the same species to CDC-type light traps (LT) augmented with CO2. A significant relationship between seasonal responses to LR and LT collection methods was observed for An quadrimaculatus. Diel responses to LT and LR were related for Culex spp. only. The modes of daily activity indicated by each collection method compared poorly within species with such differences greatest for Ae. albopictus and Oc. triseriatus. Capture efficiency indices showed that temporal responses to LT and LR are not congruent and that the former typically underestimates LR. A statistical model is used to identify specific times within the diel period that LT can be used to sample the adult mosquito population and the results translated precisely in terms of the numeric mosquito landing rate on humans.