Scientists worldwide use Biogents' BG-Sentinel for mosquito surveillance and monitoring

A large and growing number of scientific studies shows that Biogents' BG-Sentinel (a.k.a.the BG trap or BGS trap)  is a superior trap for mosquito surveillance and monitoring. The exceptional capture rates of this trap are documented in more than 150 scientific publications: Online-database with publications on studies using the BG-Sentinel.

Gold standard trap for adult Stegomyia

"The BG-Sentinel trap has been found to collect Ae.aegypti and Ae. albopictus more effectively than the standard CDC light trap. [...] Use of BG-Lure is strongly recommended. Place in areas inside or outside where you suspect adults to occur." (Armed Forces Pest Management Board 2012)

With Biogents' proprietary attractant, the BG-Lure, and without the need to carbon dioxide, the BG-Sentinel already is the superior trap for Stegomyia mosquitoes: especially the yellow fever or dengue mosquito, Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (e.g. Kröckel et al. 2006; Maciel de Freitas et al. 2006, 2007a, 2007b; Williams et al. 2006, 2007), the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (e.g. Meeraus et al. 2008; Krüger & Hagen 2007; Farajollahi et al. 2009, Pagès et al. 2009), or the Polynesian tiger mosquito, Aedes (Stegomyia) polynesiensis (Schmaedick et al. 2008, Hapairai et al. 2013). 

The addition of carbon dioxide further enhances the sensitivity for Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti. This configuration is normally used by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service at Darwin since 2009/10. By mid-2011, AQUIS had already intercepted Ae. aegypti four times and Ae. albopictus one time at Darwin port (Nguyen et al. 2010; Whelan et al. 2011).

"In comparison, no adult exotic mosquitoes have been detected in routine CO₂ baited EVS traps at Darwin port areas since the current routine monitoring program recommenced in 29/09/99. It is therefore recommended that routine CO₂ baited BG traps be incorporated into quarantine surveillance around risk ports in Australia to detect exotic Aedes mosquitoes." (Whelan et al. 2011)

Lacroix et al. (2009a, 2009b) placed wire cages, each with three live laboratory mice, on the bottom of BG-Sentinels and report impressive catch rates for both male and female Ae. albopictus on the island of La Réunion.

Crepeau et al. (2013) looked on the effect of BG-Sentinel trap placement on Ae. albopictus catch rates and report consistently higher catch rates for shaded or partially shaded location, compared to sunny places.

Mosquito trapping without carbon dioxide

Although carbon dioxide further enhances the efficacy of the BG-Sentinel, the trap is already an excellent trap for Stegomyia mosquitoes when baited with the BG-Lure alone.

Sample Study with the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus:
The BG-Sentinel with the BG-Lure yields results similar to the Human Landing Collection

Two research projects in different Italian cities showed that BG-Sentinel traps collects similar numbers of Aedes albopictus females as human landing collections in 30 to 90 minutes. The BG-Sentinel, used only with the BG-Lure and without carbon dioxide, thus gave excellent measures of the biting pressure. About half of the females captured had either had a recent bloodmeal, or they were gravid or parous; they would have been especially interesting in the search for disease agents (summarised in Rose et al. 2010).

An evaluation study of the BG-Sentinel tested the trap as management tool to reduce Aedes albopictus nuisance in Cesena, North Italy (Engelbrecht 2015). 3 intervention sites were compared with 3 contol sites. It could be shown that 64% and 87% fewer Ae. albopictus individuals were collected by human landing collections at the intervention sites with the BG-Sentinel mosquito traps, as compared to the untreated control sites. These results indicate that the sustained use and proper placement of efficient mosquito traps can significantly reduce Ae. albopictus biting pressure.

Other species that are captured well without the need for carbon dioxide include Culex quinquefasciatus (e.g. Maciel de Freitas et al. 2006) and Ae. mediovittatus (Little 2011). Schmied et al. (2008) used worn socks to capture Anopheles gambiae. Scholte et al. (2012) captured the invasive mosquito Aedes atropalpus in The Netherlands without using CO₂. 

With carbon dioxide, a wide range of mosquito species

The most potent attractant for most mosquito species remains carbon dioxide. Used with CO₂, the BG-Sentinel has been shown to be a high performace mosquito trap with a wide range of captured mosquitoes, including important invasive mosquito species.

Examples include a study in Oregon, USA, where Irish et al. (2008) captured at least 10 different Culex, Culiseta, Aedes, Ochlerotatus and Anopheles species; in addition the number of species in the BG-Sentinel was higher than that collected in an EVS trap.

Meeraus et al. (2008) caught at least 10 species from the genera Culex, Aedes, Ochlerotatus and Anopheles in Northern Virginia. Ae. japonicus, an invasive species also for Europe, was captured better by the BG-Sentinel than the by the CDC trap or the CMT-20 trap (all operated with carbon dioxide). The same species was also collected in Germay by Werner et al. (2012), using a BG-Sentinel with carbon dioxide.

In Florida, Obenauer et al. (2009) captured at least 10 species from not less than 6 genera (Culex, Aedes, Coquillettidia, Psorophora, Toxorhynchites and Anopheles). The BG-Sentinel significantly outperformed the two other traps also tested in this study (the MM-X and the Fay-Prince trap) at capturing Ae. triseriatus, a potentially invasive mosquito for Europe, as well as three additional species.

Antonaci Gama et al. (2012) collected at least 25 species belonging to nine genera (Culex, Aedes, Aedeomyia, Coquillettidia, Psorophora, Mansonia, Uranotaenia, Wyeomyia and Anopheles) in the in the State of Rondônia, Brazil.

Roiz et al. (2012) compared the efficacy of different CO₂-baited BG-Sentinel traps (alone, with the BG-Lure, and with octenol) to that of a CO₂-baited CDC trap for potential West-Nile vectores  in a Mediterranean wetland in Spain. All BG-Sentinels captured significatly more Anopheles atroparvus than the CDC trap. Additionally baited with the BG-Lure or with octenol, there was no significant difference to the CDC trap for Culex modestus, Cx perexiguus, Cx pipiens and Cx theileri, but a significantly smaller catch rate to the BG-Sentineil with carbon dioxide alone. The authors also found that the BG-Sentinels collected significantly more bloodfed An. atroparvus and Cx modestus. With the addition of either the BG-Lure or octenol, the BG-Sentinel always performed, partly significantly, better for bloodfed Cx perexiguus, Cx pipiens and Cx theileri than the CDC trap. These findings are especially important for efficiently finding disease agents such as the West-Nile Virus in mosquitoes.

First records 

Using the BG-Sentinel only with the BG-Lure, Ae. albopictus was first recorded on York Island in the Torres Strait off Australia (Ritchie et al. 2006) and in Gabon (Krüger & Hagen 2007).  On the French Polynesian Islands of Moorea and Tahiti, Marie & Bossin (2013) recorded adults of the new-world-mosquito Wyeomyia mitchellii using BG-Sentinels and backpack aspirators.

First records using the BG-Sentinel with carbon dioxide include Anopheles albimanus on Staint Kitts in the Caribbean (Muhammend & Smith 2011) and and adults of  Mansonia flaveola in the State of Rondônia, Brazil (Antonaci Gama et al. 2012). 

Werner et al. (2012) captured adults of Ae. albopictus, Ae. japonicus and Culiseta longiareolata in Germany. The same surveillance program also yielded a first record of Anopheles daciae for Germany in 2011 (Kronefeld et al. 2012).  In this surveillance regime, the traps (baited with the BG-Lure) were operated permanently, with the catch collected every seven days. Carbon dioxide was added to the trap for 24 hours prior to the collection of the catch.

A similar regime with a permanent operation of the traps was followed in another German surveillance program in 2012, only that the sampels were collected on a two-weekly basis, with carbon dioxide also being added for 24 hours prior to the collection. Ovitraps were used additionally. When invasive mosquitoes were detected at a given location, the surveillance regime was switched to placing more ovitraps and to putting up additional BG-Sentinels, all with a constant use of CO₂ and a weekly collection of the catch. With this surveillance strategy, thirteen female and one male adult Ae. albopictus were captured a three different locations in southern Germany, indicating a regular introduction of the species into the country (Becker et al. 2012). The ovitraps were not positive.

Using the BG-Sentinel with carbon dioxide
in an aluvial forrest near Grafenhofen, Bavaria.
An umbrella protected the catch from the frequent rainfall during the study.

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List of open access journals for the medical entomologist.