Use of Aedes aegypti larvae attractants to enhance the effectiveness of larvicides

PAULA VALERIA GONZALEZ; HÉCTOR MASUH; PAOLA GONZALEZ AUDINO; LAURA HARBURGUER

Foz do Iguazu

Congreso; 1st Joint Meeting ISCE/ALAEQ 32nd Annual Meeting of the Internacional Society of Chemical Ecology. 4th Congress of the Latin American of Chemical Ecology; 2016

International Society of Chemical Ecology

Aedes aegypti (L.) is an important dengue, chikungunya, zika and yellow fever vector. Immature stages of this species inhabit human-made containers placed in residential landscapes. Application of larvicides inside containers that cannot be eliminated is still considered a priority in control programs. Larvicidal efficacy is influenced by several factors, including the formulation used, the water quality and the susceptibility of larvae, among others. If an attractant can be incorporated into as low release larvicide formulation it will be feasible to direct the larvae into the source of insecticide and there by improving its efficacy.We studied the influence of 1-octen-3ol and 3-methylphenol on the rate of Ae. aegypti larvae mortality using the larvicides Bacillus thuringiensis var.israelensis (Bti), temephos and spinosad. These chemicals were combined with the larvicides mixed with agar during the bioassays. Mortality was registered every 10 min and a lethal time 50 (LT50) was calculated. The inclusion of the Ae. aegypti larvae attractants with the larvicides into a solid agar matrix improved their efficiency obtaining a strong and marked reduction in the LT50 compared with the use of larvicides alone.The results obtained in this work for Ae.aegypti could be extended to mosquitoes that live in large water bodies, such as Anopheles or Culex considering that larvae attractants for Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae have already been identified (Barber and Burnton 1983; Xia et al.2008).