Sampling Hematophagous Diptera with a Conical Trap and Carbon Dioxide, with Special Reference to Culex salinarius1

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Abstract
Conical plastic traps with carbon dioxide as an attractant were tested in the Raritan Arsenal and adjacent residential areas, New Brunswick, New Jersey, to determine their ability to collect and sample adult mosquito populations. Of nearly 6000 Diptera of 14 species (9 mosquitoes, 2 Culicoides, 2 Hippelates, and 1 Stomoxys) taken in 125 collections, 90% were Culex salinarius Coquillett. Traps showed the following attributes for collecting and sampling C. salinarius: (1) efficient collection (large catches per unit effort) ; (2) larger catches closer to the primary breeding area (Phragmites marsh in the Arsenal) and, therefore, from apparently larger populations; and (3) little variation in catches from traps in different sites in the marsh. Comparison of landing collections from the writer's person at dusk with (1) trap catches made concurrently and (2) trap catches made throughout the night (including those made concurrently) showed no correlation and indicated that conical traps with CO2 did not obtain samples representative of C. salinarius populations attacking man at dusk.

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