The composition and seasonal occurrence of sandflies were investigated in coffee agroecosystems in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico. Insect sampling was performed on three plantations located at different altitudes: Finca Guadalupe Zajú [1,000 m above sea level (a.s.l.)], Finca Argovia (613 m a.s.l.) and Teotihuacán del Valle (429 m a.s.l.). Sandflies were sampled monthly from August 200...

Optical traps use the forces exerted by structured beams of light to confine and manipulate microscopic objects in three dimensions. A popular implementation involves structuring the trap-forming beam with computer-generated holograms before focusing it into traps with a high-numerical-aperture optical train. Here, we present a fully vectorial theory for the forces and torques exerted by such s...

We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that phase gradients in a light field can be used to create a new category of optical traps complementary to the more familiar intensity-gradient traps known as optical tweezers. We further show that the work done by phase-gradient forces is path dependent and briefly discuss some ramifications of this nonconservativity.

The abundance and age structure of Anopheles albimanus populations were estimated by UV updraft light traps and human landing catches within villages and in nearby breeding sites of southern México. Four villages and 5 breeding sites were selected for the study. Light trap and human landing catches were simultaneously carried out in each breeding site and each village. Anopheles albimanus was t...

Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) were collected during the summer of 2007 at the Greenville and Riverbanks Zoos in South Carolina with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) traps equipped with ultraviolet or incandescent lights and baited with carbon dioxide. Sixteen species of Culicoides were collected, four of which represented more than 80%. They we...

We demonstrate the formation of charged molecular packets and their transport within optically created electrical force-field traps in a pH-buffered electrolyte. We call this process photoelectrophoretic localization and transport (PELT). The electrolyte is in contact with a photoconductive semiconductor electrode and a counterelectrode that are connected through an external circuit. A light be...

The possible presence of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) among colonies of Gunnison's prairie dogs, Cynomys gunnisoni Baird, was investigated on or near ranches with histories of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in domestic livestock in the mid-Rio Grande River Valley, NM, and west-slope region of Colorado. Sampling was conducted at six locations, three in each region, using three methods: standard ...

The efficacy of untreated and alphacypermethrin-treated high density polyethylene (HDPE) mesh against Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) was determined using Onderstepoort downdraught black light traps and a contact bioassay. Three traps were operated overnight in four replicates of a 3×3 randomised Latin square design near horses under South African field conditions. Both the ...

We conducted three trials near Cairns, Australia, to compare the numbers of mosquitoes collected with the standard Encephalitis Vector Surveillance (EVS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps with the new MosquitoMagnet (MM) and counterflow geometry (CFG) traps with the use of a 4 x 4 latin square experimental design. The MM was generally equal to the performance of the CDC and CFG ...