Trapping of triatomines-Chagas disease vectors using experimental boxes designed to mimic the insect´s natural habitats.

LUCÍA IBARRA BOUZADA; ANDREA MARTÍNEZ BENINGAZA; CECERE MC; GUERENSTEIN PABLO

ciudad de buenos aires

Congreso; 6th CONGRESS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION CHEMICAL ECOLOGY; 2021

Triatoma infestans is the main vector of Chagas disease, a neglected disease, in South America. The detection of the vector is one of the aims in the interruption of the vector transmission. Methods of passive detection could be a helpful tool in the detection; those are traps installed and designed to capture triatomines. We develop an experimental design with the aim to probe the attraction and capture of a baited trap under semi-control laboratory conditions which simulate natural conditions. The trap used to evaluate the lure was a sticky fall tramp (SFT). The experimental design consists in three experimental boxes (EB) with one treatment in each one: SFT baited with a synthetic odor blend (test, T); SFT with a mouse (positive control, C+); empty SFT (negative control, C-). The free CO2 synthetic odor blend is composed of three host odors: L(+) lactic acid, valeric acid and ammonia, which were disposed on LDPE sachets. In each EB were used 10 insects of T. infestans four instar larvae; nine assays have been done (n=9). The assays were recorded by a IR video camera. The baited trap (T) showed an intermediate performance on the percentage of capture (Me: 30) respect to C- (Me: 10) and the C+ (Me: 70). The percentage of capture triatomines per trap deferred significantly between treatments. The video recordings of the first 30 minutes of the assay (N=6) shown that the activity level of the insects was higher in C+ and T than in C-. The 71% and 28% of the visits to the trap conclude on capture for C+ and T, respectively. Those preliminary results indicate that the baited trap with a synthetic odor blend was effective on the capture of insects, and could be used for passive detection in the future.