Cargando…

Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera

BACKGROUND: The behaviour of insect vectors has an important bearing on the epidemiology of the diseases they transmit, and on the opportunities for vector control. Two sorts of electrocuting device have been particularly useful for studying the behaviour of tsetse flies (Glossina spp), the vectors...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vale, Glyn A., Hargrove, John W., Cullis, N. Alan, Chamisa, Andrew, Torr, Stephen J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4631496/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26505202
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004169
_version_ 1782398874882670592
author Vale, Glyn A.
Hargrove, John W.
Cullis, N. Alan
Chamisa, Andrew
Torr, Stephen J.
author_facet Vale, Glyn A.
Hargrove, John W.
Cullis, N. Alan
Chamisa, Andrew
Torr, Stephen J.
author_sort Vale, Glyn A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The behaviour of insect vectors has an important bearing on the epidemiology of the diseases they transmit, and on the opportunities for vector control. Two sorts of electrocuting device have been particularly useful for studying the behaviour of tsetse flies (Glossina spp), the vectors of the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock. Such devices consist of grids on netting (E-net) to catch tsetse in flight, or on cloth (E-cloth) to catch alighting flies. Catches are most meaningful when the devices catch as many as possible of the flies potentially available to them, and when the proportion caught is known. There have been conflicting indications for the catching efficiency, depending on whether the assessments were made by the naked eye or assisted by video recordings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using grids of 0.5m(2) in Zimbabwe, we developed catch methods of studying the efficiency of E-nets and E-cloth for tsetse, using improved transformers to supply the grids with electrical pulses of ~40kV. At energies per pulse of 35–215mJ, the efficiency was enhanced by reducing the pulse interval from 3200 to 1ms. Efficiency was low at 35mJ per pulse, but there seemed no benefit of increasing the energy beyond 70mJ. Catches at E-nets declined when the fine netting normally used became either coarser or much finer, and increased when the grid frame was moved from 2.5cm to 27.5cm from the grid. Data for muscoids and tabanids were roughly comparable to those for tsetse. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The catch method of studying efficiency is useful for supplementing and extending video methods. Specifications are suggested for E-nets and E-cloth that are ~95% efficient and suitable for estimating the absolute numbers of available flies. Grids that are less efficient, but more economical, are recommended for studies of relative numbers available to various baits.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4631496
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-46314962015-11-06 Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera Vale, Glyn A. Hargrove, John W. Cullis, N. Alan Chamisa, Andrew Torr, Stephen J. PLoS Negl Trop Dis Research Article BACKGROUND: The behaviour of insect vectors has an important bearing on the epidemiology of the diseases they transmit, and on the opportunities for vector control. Two sorts of electrocuting device have been particularly useful for studying the behaviour of tsetse flies (Glossina spp), the vectors of the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock. Such devices consist of grids on netting (E-net) to catch tsetse in flight, or on cloth (E-cloth) to catch alighting flies. Catches are most meaningful when the devices catch as many as possible of the flies potentially available to them, and when the proportion caught is known. There have been conflicting indications for the catching efficiency, depending on whether the assessments were made by the naked eye or assisted by video recordings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using grids of 0.5m(2) in Zimbabwe, we developed catch methods of studying the efficiency of E-nets and E-cloth for tsetse, using improved transformers to supply the grids with electrical pulses of ~40kV. At energies per pulse of 35–215mJ, the efficiency was enhanced by reducing the pulse interval from 3200 to 1ms. Efficiency was low at 35mJ per pulse, but there seemed no benefit of increasing the energy beyond 70mJ. Catches at E-nets declined when the fine netting normally used became either coarser or much finer, and increased when the grid frame was moved from 2.5cm to 27.5cm from the grid. Data for muscoids and tabanids were roughly comparable to those for tsetse. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The catch method of studying efficiency is useful for supplementing and extending video methods. Specifications are suggested for E-nets and E-cloth that are ~95% efficient and suitable for estimating the absolute numbers of available flies. Grids that are less efficient, but more economical, are recommended for studies of relative numbers available to various baits. Public Library of Science 2015-10-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4631496/ /pubmed/26505202 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004169 Text en © 2015 Vale et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Vale, Glyn A.
Hargrove, John W.
Cullis, N. Alan
Chamisa, Andrew
Torr, Stephen J.
Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title_full Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title_fullStr Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title_full_unstemmed Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title_short Efficacy of Electrocuting Devices to Catch Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae) and Other Diptera
title_sort efficacy of electrocuting devices to catch tsetse flies (glossinidae) and other diptera
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4631496/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26505202
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004169
work_keys_str_mv AT valeglyna efficacyofelectrocutingdevicestocatchtsetsefliesglossinidaeandotherdiptera
AT hargrovejohnw efficacyofelectrocutingdevicestocatchtsetsefliesglossinidaeandotherdiptera
AT cullisnalan efficacyofelectrocutingdevicestocatchtsetsefliesglossinidaeandotherdiptera
AT chamisaandrew efficacyofelectrocutingdevicestocatchtsetsefliesglossinidaeandotherdiptera
AT torrstephenj efficacyofelectrocutingdevicestocatchtsetsefliesglossinidaeandotherdiptera