Tolerance thresholds for Aedes albopictus and Aedes caspius in Italian urban areas

J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 2008 Sep;24(3):377-86. doi: 10.2987/5612.1.

Abstract

With nuisance mosquito species, the goal of integrated pest management is to keep mosquito density below a tolerance level that is often set by economic, ecological, and political factors. This study compares actual human annoyance, as measured by a phone survey, with several measures of mosquito abundance, in order to determine a threshold that is both relevant and practical. The efficiency of CO2-baited traps, container index (CI), and oviposition traps for monitoring Aedes albopictus, and CO2-baited traps for monitoring Aedes caspius, was evaluated. CO2-baited traps were confirmed to be of low efficiency in Ae. albopictus collection, while correlation matrices showed a good relationship between CI and the number of eggs collected (R = 0.91), and between number of eggs and phone-survey nuisance level estimates (R = 0.88). Correlation between CI and phone-survey nuisance levels was slightly lower (R = 0.78). We found a close relationship between the nuisance level declared by residents and mosquito captures obtained with CO2-baited traps (Ae. caspius) and ovitraps (Ae. albopictus). An equation is presented to estimate annoyance according to dwelling characteristics and to the presence of children in the family.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aedes*
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Cities
  • Decision Making
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Insect Control / methods
  • Insect Control / standards*
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Italy
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Density
  • Public Opinion*
  • Urban Population