operational note

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 23(1):84–86, 2007 Copyright E 2007 by The American Mosquito Control Association, Inc.

OPERATIONAL NOTE DESCRIPTION OF THREE PRACTICAL AND INEXPENSIVE DEVICES FOR THE COLLECTION OF MOSQUITOES AND OTHER SMALL INSECTS CARLOS BRISOLA MARCONDES,1 JERONIMO ALENCAR,2 VALDIR QUEIROZ BALBINO3 ˜ ES2 ANTHONY ERICO GUIMARA

AND

ABSTRACT. Three new devices for collecting and maintaining mosquitoes and other small insects are described. A suction tube, composed of two pieces of plastic transparent tube, the narrower fitted in the wider, with the mouth protected by the use of voile, is cheap and practical and can be transported around the neck. A 900-ml plastic transparent box is utilized for the restraint of sucked insects and, with the adaptation of two pieces of plastic tube, as a suction chamber. KEY WORDS:

Collection, Culicidae, device, Phlebotominae

neck, from which it can be quickly taken when an insect lands on a surface. The insects are then gently blown into a 900-ml plastic transparent cubic box (e.g., ZiplocH), in which the cover has been partially replaced by a plastic screen, through a 2-cm hole closed by a piece of rubber from a motorcycle inner tube that is slit in the middle (Figs. 1 and 2). The hole opens when the plastic tube is inserted and closes just after it is withdrawn, not permitting insects to escape (Fig. 2). A piece of cotton, embedded in ethyl acetate, is then put on the screen, with care taken not to wet the insects. This substance is preferred as a killing agent, because as the mosquito dies, its legs relax away from the body, and it is easy to affix the insect to a pin (Pecor and Gaffigan 1997; Harbach, personal communication). They can also be transported alive in a box with wet cotton or even individually transferred to other vials, with the collector

Many devices have been developed for the collection of mosquitoes and other small, medically important insects. Some of them, such as glass tubes fitted in plastic ones, can be utilized for the suction of mosquitoes and phlebotomine sand flies, preferably with a dilatation in the middle for the last group (Neves and Silva 1989, Consoli and Oliveira 1994, Maroli et al. 1995, Marcondes 2001). The suction devices with glass tubes are difficult to carry and fragile, and some improvement is needed. Scales of mosquitoes are very important for identification, mostly in sabethines, and they should not contact killing liquids such as ethyl acetate. Thus, the mosquitoes should be killed and maintained in a dry vial. Three practical and inexpensive devices for collecting and maintaining mosquitoes and other small insects, which minimize loss of scales and breaking of legs, are described. A suction tube was prepared by fitting a 3/8-in. plastic transparent tube, 30 cm long, into a K-in. tube of the same length. A piece of voile was fitted between the tips of the tubes, and they were fixed by insulation tape, preferably not covering the part of the wider tube in front of the voile (Fig. 1). Mosquitoes (or other small insects) were then sucked into the wider tube, with the tip closed by a finger between collections, and with several insects kept together. The suction tube can be transported in a shoulder bag or around the

1 Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Centro de Cieˆncias Biolo ´ gicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 88040-900 Floriano ´ polis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. 2 Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 3 Departamento de Gene´tica, Centro de Cieˆncias Biolo ´ gicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 50732-970 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Fig. 1. Plastic box and suction tube for the collection of small insects: (a) plastic box, (b) cover of the box, (c) junction of the two parts of the collection tube, with voile and insulating tape; right for insects, left for suction by mouth. 84

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OPERATIONAL NOTE

Fig. 2. Plastic box with the suction tube introduced in the cut rubber: (a) cut rubber, (b) suction tube.

looking through the walls of the box and sucking with the above-described collection plastic tube. The screen and the piece of rubber are glued by the use of plastic hot glue. The box was also utilized as a collecting chamber. Two opposite walls are reinforced by pieces of the same plastic, and 15-mm holes are made in both reinforced walls. Bushings from the brake of a Fiat car (model Palio, code 7078625) or General Motors, to adapt the plastic K-in. tubes to the box, are then inserted in the holes. The end of the tube that is inserted in the box is covered by voile fastened by insulation. The tips of the tubes are kept near the side where the insects enter, to reduce the possibility of collision with the opposite wall (Fig. 3). The box can be transported with the tubes, or they can be inserted just before the collection. A double cover can be used composed of a piece of voile fitted by an elastic band and the original plastic one. To prevent accidental opening in case of shock,

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insulation tape or an elastic band can fix the plastic cover in both boxes. Although not referred in the publications, the plastic suction tube has been utilized in studies of mosquitoes since 1997 in the State of Pernambuco for sand flies, with about 950 (Balbino et al. 2001) and almost 10,000 (Balbino et al. 2005a, 2005b) insects collected, and in Santa Catarina for mosquitoes (Marcondes et al. 2003, Paterno and Marcondes 2004), with excellent results. Its flexibility and resistance and its transportation around the neck make it very practical. A preliminary identification of the insect can easily be done, to decide its destination. Each tube costs only US $0.50, and when it becomes dirty or opaque it can be easily washed and dried, or discarded. Although also not necessarily referred to in the text, the plastic box has been used for collecting mosquitoes mostly in the states of Rio de Janeiro (Alencar et al. 2005a) and Mato Grosso do Sul (Alencar et al. 2005b); Haemagogus, Trichoprosopon, and Phoniomyia mosquitoes can easily be seen and selected. It is inexpensive (US$1.50), and mosquitoes are very well preserved. The suction box, a modification of the abovedescribed box, is also practical, but the bushings raise its cost to US $8.00. Some other less expensive bushing should be looked for; however, bushings can be reused in new boxes. A third hole with a piece of rubber would permit the removal of living mosquitoes, but it should be well closed by insulation tape to maintain the internal pressure during the suction. In both boxes, collected mosquitoes are very well preserved, with almost all the scales kept and the legs not broken. These three devices are practical and inexpensive and can be prepared anywhere. Easily found materials are used, and the devices can contribute to the development of studies on mosquitoes, sand flies, and other blood-feeding insects. The risk of aspiring potentially harmful organisms (Bates 1944), or even scales and dust is very small because of the use of voile, but some additional filter could be added (Warburg 1989). A motor could be adapted for suction (e.g., Natal and Marucci 1984), but this would raise the cost and increase the chances of failure of the devices and damage to the insects. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı´fico e Tecnolo´gico, Proc.–690143/ 01-0, for financial assistance.

Fig. 3. Box for the suction of small insects, seen from above: (a) tube for suction by mouth, with voile; (b) tube for the entrance of insects.

REFERENCES CITED Alencar J, Lorosa ES, De´gallier N, Serra-Freire NM, Pacheco JB, Guimara˜es AE. 2005a. Feeding patterns

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of Haemagogus janthinomys (Diptera: Culicidae) in different regions of Brazil. J Med Entomol 42: 981–985. Alencar J, Lorosa ES, Silva JS, Lopes CM, Guimara˜es AE. 2005b. Observac¸o˜es sobre o padra˜o alimentar de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) no Pantanal MatoGrossense. Neotr Entomol 34:681–687. Balbino VQ, Andrade MS, Coutinho-Abreu I, Sonoda IV, Marcondes CB, Shaw JJ, Branda˜o-Filho SP. 2005a. Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil: the presence of species incriminated as vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Amazon region in Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 1078:25–32. Balbino VQ, Coutinho-Abreu IV, Sonoda IV, Silva WS, Marcondes CB. 2005b. Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the Atlantic forest in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil: the species coming to human bait, and their seasonal and monthly variations over a 2-year period. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 99:683–693. Balbino VQ, Marcondes CB, Alexander B, Luna LKS, Lucena MMM, Mendes ACS, Andrade PP. 2001. First report of Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) umbratilis Ward & Frahia, 1977 outside of Amazonian Region, in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae). Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 96:315–317. Bates M. 1944. Observations on the distribution of diurnal mosquitoes in a tropical forest. Ecology 25:159–170.

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