Design of an Efficient Mosquito Trap Using Fluid Dynamics

Mosquitoes are arguably the most dangerous animals on the planet, transmitting diseases such as malaria, dengue virus, and Zika, and causing millions of deaths every year. The ability to trap and survey intact mosquitoes is important for monitoring their populations. Despite a century of mosquito trap design, a trap's efficiency, the proportion captured of those lured to the trap, is often low, ranging from <10% to 58%. We present the design of a mosquito trap in which the bait odor plume is closer to the suction port. In previous systems, trajectories show many mosquitoes are initially attracted to the bait plume and then leave the vicinity without being sucked into the trap. We test our trap design using live mosquito experiments and computational fluid dynamics simulations. We discuss iterations of our design based upon consideration of plume streamlines and mosquito behavior.