Oviposition behaviour and parity rates of Aedes aegypti collected in sticky traps in Trinidad, West Indies

Abstract

The oviposition behaviour of Aedes aegypti was studied using sticky traps (ST), double sticky traps (DST) and standard ovitrap traps in urban St. Augustine and rural Tamana, Trinidad, West Indies. In St. Augustine three traps were deployed in 10 houses for 10 weeks while in Tamana traps were similarly deployed (10 houses for 10 weeks). At each house one ovitrap, one ST and one DST were placed using the criteria established for ovitrap placement. The results showed large numbers of adults collected, 3602 collected in DSTs and 1,670 adults collected in STs. In addition, >9000 immatures were collected in the DST vs >7000 in the STs. Over the 10 weeks 517 Ae. aegypti eggs were collected from ovitraps from Tamana and 3252 eggs from St. Augustine. Most of the females collected were parous (99%) with many older females collected e.g. 7 pars collected in both Tamana and St. Augustine. A major finding of the study was the observation of the “death stress oviposition” behaviour displayed among Ae. aegypti females captures in the sticky traps. This is the first report of this behaviour in the field and may well explain the collection of large numbers of immatures found in the ST and DSTs. The results of this study are discussed in the context of developing surveillance and control strategies, especially for reducing man–vector contact.