The Furvela tent-trap Mk 1.1 for the collection of outdoor biting mosquitoes

Abstract

Outdoor transmission of malaria and other vector borne diseases remains a problem. The WHO has recently recognized the need for suitable methods for assessing vector density outdoors and a number of tent-traps have been developed. Only one such trap, the Furvela tent-trap, does not require an ‘entry’ behavior on the part of the mosquito. It remains the cheapest and lightest tent-trap described. It takes less than two minutes to install and is the only trap that uses readily available components. Here we describe recent modifications to the trap, which make it even easier to set up in the field, provide a standard operating procedure (SOP) and describe some recent experiments examining the effect of the addition of light and door placement to working of the trap. The trap provides the closest approximation to CDC light-traps, widely used to collect indoor biting mosquitoes. This enables the effect of both indoor and outdoor interventions on mosquito density and behavior to be determined.