An Approach to Mosquito Control: Using the Dominant Attraction of Flowering Tamarix jordanis Trees Against Culex pipiens

In this study, we identiÞed blossoms that attract Culex pipiens L. s.l. in a Mediterranean habitat by using branches of 26 common plant species as baits for traps. The highest catch, 60.5% of the total, by sowers ofTamarixjordanis Boiss., was6 times greater than the 10.7% caught by sowering Polygonum equisetiforme Sm., and 10 times higher than the 6.6% caught by sowers of Acacia saligna (Lindle) H. L. Wendl. The catch elicited by the other plants ranged between 4.0 and 0.1%. Plant attraction also was evaluated in a Þeld situation. Experimental and control sites were similar strips of vegetation along water channels with T. jordanis trees in the center. In the experimental site, these trees were sprayed with sucrose solution, food dye, and oral insecticide (Spinosad). Concurrently, patches of plant species and trees in the control site were sprayed with solutions of sucrose and different food dye markers. Cx. pipiens populations in both sites were monitored. The highest proportion (65.2%) of the marked mosquitoes in the control site carried the dye of sowering T. jordanis. The dye of sowering P. equisetiforme and that of A. saligna were found, respectively, in 8.1 and 3.5% of the labeled mosquitoes. The marker of reed groups (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Steudel) above the water was found in 19.4% of mosquitoes, whereas the different marker of dry land reeds was found in only 0.4% of the labeled mosquitoes. In the experimental site, after treatment, the mosquitoes decreased from255 per trap to24 mosquitoes per trap, whereas the catch in the control site reached 400 mosquitoes per trap. In this study, we identiÞed blossoms that attract Culex pipiens L. s.l. in a Mediterranean habitat by conducting two experiments, the Þrst using branches of local plants as mosquito trap bait to identify preferred blos- soms; and the second using food dyes to mark mos- quitoes that fed in the Þeld, in the control site. As part of the latter experiment, we sprayed the preferred plants in the experimental site with oral insecticide and monitored the mosquito population for a de- crease.