Efficacies of five edible mushroom extracts as odor baits for resting boxes to attract mosquito vectors: A field study in Samut Songkhram province, Thailand

Abstract

© 2018, Malaysian Society for Parasitology. All rights reserved. Effective trapping of adult mosquitoes in the wild can reduce the spread of deadly human pathogens, such as Plasmodium species causing malaria. The efficacy of this strategy depends on the capacity of the trap to attract and retain insects, and specific odorants such as octenol in mushrooms are strong attractants for mosquitoes. In this study, we assessed the efficiency of a resting box baited with five different extracts from local edible mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, Thaeogyroporus porentosus, Volvariella volvacea, Pleurotus sajorcaju, and Lentinus edodes, for attracting mosquito vectors in Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand. Extracts were used in identical “resting box” at 50, 100, and 200 mg/mL per box. Compared to the unbaited resting box (control), only traps containing 200 mg/mL of L. edodes extract captured significantly more mosquitoes (16.00 ± 3.61 vs. 7.00 ± 1.00 per resting box per night, p<0.05). Attraction efficacy did not increase progressively with tested amount for most extracts. These findings indicate that L. edodes extract can be used as an inexpensive, non-toxic, and locally sourced attractant to increase the efficacy of mosquito control.