Differential attraction of Aedes albopictus in the field to flowers, fruits and honeydew

Sugar is the main source of energy for the activities of mosquitoes; however, information on the vital sugar feeding of Aedes albopictus in the field is scanty and often anecdotal. Using glue traps and baits, we evaluated the attraction of Ae. albopictus to 28 different, potential sugar sources. Control traps were baited with either sugar–water solution or water alone, and since there was no significant difference between these controls, the water control was used as the standard for comparison. The total catch amounted to 1347 females and 1127 males. An attraction index (mean number of mosquitoes attracted to the baits/mean number of mosquitoes attracted to the control) was used to compare the relative attraction of the baits. The attraction index of significantly attractive baits ranged from 2.5 to 50.0 and the index of others ranged from 0.50 to 2.75. None of the baits were repellent. Significantly high attraction was observed for four of six ornamental flowers (Tamarix chinensis, Vitex agnus-castus, Polygonum baldchuanicum, Buddleja davidii), four of eleven wild flowers (Prosopis farcta, Ziziphus spina-christi, Polygonum equisetiforme, Ceratonia siliqua), the only tested seed pod when damaged and fermenting (C. siliqua), and all five of the tested fruits: Opuntia ficus indica (sabra), Ficus carica (fig), Punica granatum (pomegranate, damaged), Eriobotyra japonica (loquat), and Rubus sanctus (raspberry). Unlike damaged, fermenting carob seed pods and pomegranates, the fresh fruits were not attractive. Attraction to foliage soiled with honeydew excretion of three different aphid species was also not significant. The potential to use attractive sugar sources for mosquito control is discussed.