Specificity of the Adultrap for capturing females of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

The Adultrap is a new trap built for capturing females of Aedes aegypti Tests were carried out to evaluate the specificity of this trap in comparison with the technique of aspiration of specimens in artificial shelters. Adultraps were kept for 24 hours inside and outside 120 randomly selected homes in two districts of the City of Foz do Iguacu, State of Parana. The statistical test was Poisson's log-linear model. The result was 726 mosquitoes captured, of which 80 were Aedes aegypti. The Adultrap captured only females of this species, while the aspiration method captured both sexes of Aedes aegypti and another five species. The Adultrap captured Aedes aegypti inside and outside the homes, but the analysis indicated that, outside the homes, this trap captured significantly more females than aspiration did. The sensitivity of the Adultrap for detecting females of Aedes aegypti in low-frequency situations was also demonstrated.