Quantifying the abundance of host-seeking fleas is critical for assessing risk of human exposure to flea-borne disease agents, including Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague. Yet, reliable measures of the efficacy of existing host-seeking flea collection methods are lacking. In this study, we compare the efficacy of passive and active methods for the collection of host-seeking fleas...

How to cite this article: Venter, G.J., Labuschagne, K., Boikanyo, S.N.B. & Morey, L., 2014, ‘Assessment of the repellent effect of citronella and lemon eucalyptus oil against South African Culicoides species’, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 85(1), Art. #992, 5 pages. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/jsava.v85i1.992 The use of insect repellents to reduce the attack rate of Culico...

CDC miniature light traps were used to evaluate the general biology of phlebotomine sand flies from April 2003 to November 2004 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq. Factors evaluated include species diversity and temporal (daily and seasonal) and geographic distribution of the sand flies. In addition, the abundance of sand flies inside and outside tents and buildings was observed. In total, 61,630 sand fl...

The Biogents® Sentinel (BGS) trap is the standard tool to monitor adult Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), the Asian tiger mosquito. BGS traps are commonly placed in residential properties during surveillance operations, but locations within properties may have significant differences in ambient light, temperature, and humidity (e.g. between a sunlit lawn and shady under...

Custom-designed colloidal particles in optical tweezers act as lightmills in a fluid. In particular, aqueous suspensions of capped silica colloids, in which half of the surface is covered with metal layers, are investigated. Due to their asymmetry, the capped colloids can act as rotators when exposed to intense laser fields. Particles of 4.7μm in diameter are observed rotating around the focus ...

We report a study of the allophycocyanin trimer (APC), a light-harvesting protein complex from cyanobacteria, by room-temperature single-molecule measurements of fluorescence spectra, lifetimes, intensity trajectories, and polarization modulation. Emission spectra of individual APC trimers are found to be homogeneous on the time scale of seconds. In contrast, their emission lifetimes are found ...

Three types of carbon dioxide-baited traps, i.e., the Centers for Disease Control Miniature Light Trap without light, the BioGents (BG) Sentinel Mosquito Trap (BG-Sentinel) and the Mosquito Magnet® Liberty Plus were compared with human landing collections in their efficiency in collecting Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis mosquitoes. Of 13,549 total mosquitoes collected, 1,019 (7.52%) were An...

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, appears to have been extirpated from Palmyra Atoll following rat eradication. Anecdotal biting reports, collection records, and regular captures in black-light traps showed the species was present before rat eradication. Since then, there have been no biting reports and no captures over 2 years of extensive trapping (black-light and scent traps). By c...

OBJECTIVE The western borderland between Yunnan Province, China, and Myanmar is characterized by a climate that facilitates year-round production of mosquitoes. Numerous mosquito-transmitted viruses, including Japanese encephalitis virus circulate in this area. This project was to describe seasonal patterns in mosquito species abundance and arbovirus activity in the mosquito populations. METH...