Comparing efficacy of a sweep net and a dip method for collection of mosquito larvae in large bodies of water in South Africa [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

In this study we tested an alternative method for collecting mosquito larvae called the sweep net catch method and compared its efficiency to that of the traditional dip method. The two methods were compared in various water bodies within Kruger National Park and Lapalala Wilderness area, South Africa. The sweep net catch method performed 5 times better in the collection of larvae and equally as well as the dip method in the collection of Anopheles larvae (p =8.58 x 10 ). Based on 15 replicates the collector’s experience Culex level did not play a significant role in the relative numbers of larvae collected using either method. This simple and effective sweep net catch method will greatly improve the mosquito larval sampling capacity in the field setting. Katherine K. Brisco ( ) Corresponding author: [email protected] Brisco KK, Cornel AJ, Lee Y How to cite this article: et al. Comparing efficacy of a sweep net and a dip method for collection of mosquito 2016, :713 (doi: larvae in large bodies of water in South Africa [version 1; referees: 2 approved] F1000Research 5 ) 10.12688/f1000research.8351.1 © 2016 Brisco KK . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the , which Copyright: et al Creative Commons Attribution Licence permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Data associated with the article are available under the terms of the (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver Both Cornel and Braack were beneficiaries of a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program grant (IIE Grantee ID: Grant information: 15410201) which partly enabled this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed. 21 Apr 2016, :713 (doi: ) First published: 5 10.12688/f1000research.8351.1 1 1 2 3