Comparison of an experimental updraft ultraviolet light trap with the CDC miniature light trap and biting collections in sampling for Anopheles albimanus in Haiti.

Three methods of capturing Anopheles albimanus mosquitoes were compared during a field study in four villages in northern Haiti. Updraft ultraviolet (UV) light traps proved to be more effective than biting collections, regardless of season or whether the tests were done indoors or outdoors. Biting collections were in turn more effective than the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) miniature light traps. Updraft UV light traps and biting collections yielded more An. albimanus outdoors than indoors; the reverse was found for the CDC miniature light traps. The updraft UV light traps caught An. albimanus on 86% of the occasions used outside and 75% of the occasions inside. The biting collections were equally as successful as the traps in catching mosquitoes outside but caught An. albimanus only on 64% of the occasions when used inside houses. The CDC miniature light traps were successful in collecting An. albimanus on 33% of the occasions outside and 60% of the occasions inside.