Back

Lethal ovitrap

The lethal ovitrap is filled with water and the velour paper landing strip and a pesticide-treated strip from the white packet are attached to the trap. The female mosquito lands on the velour strip to lay eggs and receives a lethal dose of pesticide.

A lethal ovitrap is a device which attracts gravid female container-breeding mosquitoes and kills them. The traps halt the insect's life cycle by killing adult insects and stopping reproduction. The original use of ovitraps was to monitor the spread and density of Aedes and other container-breeding mosquito populations by collecting eggs which could be counted, or hatched to identify the types of insects. Since its conception, researchers found that adding lethal substances to the ovitraps could control the populations of these targeted species. These traps are called lethal ovitraps. They primarily target Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which are the main vectors of dengue fever, Zika virus, west Nile virus, yellow fever, and chikungunya.

Lethal ovitraps can either contain substances that kills larvae that hatch from eggs laid in the traps (larvicidal ovitraps), or substances that kill the adult mosquito when she enters, along with any larva that may hatch (adulticidal ovitraps). While larvicidal ovitraps only reduce larval growth, they do not kill the adult mosquitoes that may carry diseases. Adulticidal ovitraps act to kill the viremic (disease-carrying) female mosquitoes and act to directly stop disease transmission.

Lethal ovitraps use tiny amounts of pesticides, usually 99.9% less chemicals than applied using traditional spraying or “fogging”. They provide isolated spaces where mosquitoes, not humans and other wildlife, will find these pesticides, instead of broadcasting them into the environment. Harsher pesticides with less mosquito resistance can be used in these traps because the spaces are so isolated. This allows for better mosquito control with less pesticide use.