STtech: sampling and transport techniques for Aedes eggs during a sampling campaign in a low-resource setting

  • Container-breeding Aedes spp. (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes can be surveilled at low cost using ovitraps. Hence, this method is a preferred monitoring approach of dengue vectors in low-resource settings. The ovitraps consist of a cup filled with water and an oviposition substrate for female mosquitoes. The attractiveness of the substrates for female mosquitoes can greatly differ due to differences in texture, color, and smell of the materials used. We compare four oviposition substrates, which are all low priced, easy to transport, and easy to purchase, to maximize the success of Aedes egg sampling. Sampled egg material is often reared to adulthood for further taxonomic identification and transported to (international) laboratories for specialized vector research. Here we introduce a transport technique for sampled eggs. In addition, we explored the impact of international transport by means of a bilateral hatching experiment in Nepal, the country of origin, and in Germany, in a laboratory specialized in ecophysiological research. The best low-cost oviposition substrate for the dengue vectors Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (L.) was found to be a white cotton sheet. The introduced transport technique of sampled eggs is easy to build from laboratory and household materials and ensures good transport conditions (i.e., temperature and relative humidity). Even under good temperature (17.4–31.0 °C) and humidity conditions (58.9–94.2%), hatching success of eggs was found to be reduced after international transport to Germany when compared to the hatching success of eggs in Nepal. We postulate that air pressure during international transport may have reduced the hatching success and strongly recommend pressure-regulated transport boxes for egg transport via airplane. As the proposed operation procedure is useful in assisting the monitoring of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti in low-resource settings, Aedes researchers are encouraged to follow it for the sampling and transport of Aedes eggs.

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Author:Isabelle Marie KramerORCiDGND, Sunita BaralORCiD, Ishan Gautam, Markus BraunORCiD, Axel MagdeburgGND, Parbati PhuyalORCiD, Indira Kadel, Meghnath DhimalORCiDGND, Bodo AhrensORCiDGND, Jan David Alexander GronebergORCiDGND, Ruth MüllerORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-621634
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.13022
ISSN:1570-7458
Parent Title (English):Entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell
Place of publication:Oxford [u.a.]
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2021/01/27
Date of first Publication:2021/01/27
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2021/11/03
Tag:Aedes aegypti; Aedes albopictus; Culicidae; Diptera; dengue vector; egg sampling; hatching; international transport; monitoring; oviposition; oviposition substrate; ovitrap
Volume:169
Issue:4
Page Number:10
First Page:374
Last Page:383
Note:
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. Grant Number: 01Kl1717
HeBIS-PPN:489175120
Institutes:Geowissenschaften / Geographie
Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0