Setting the Mosquito Trap

For the DELTA project, students will receive a kit with 1 small, black plastic cup called an ovitrap, 8 sheets of seed paper, and 8 small plastic bags.

Each paper is labeled with a 2 letter and 2 digit ID code, WI for the Willow School and TU for Tulane and numbered 01 to 22.

The trap is set by selecting the paper for the collection week, rolling it into a cylinder and placing it inside the cup or trap.

The trap should then be filled halfway with clean tap water and placed in a location on the ground, out of direct sunlight and preferably with vegetation. This can be near a home and in a yard or in park, just be sure to place the trap somewhere it is unlikely to be disturbed or tipped over.

Each Wednesday, you will be asked to dump out the water and reset the trap by changing the paper using the one labeled for the following week and adding more clean water into the trap. The trap can stay in the same location throughout the study.

The paper can be folded or rolled up and placed into one of the small plastic bags provided, the bag should be brought in and laced into the Delta project plastic tub in the classroom.

At that time you will also be asked fill out an online form using this link https://tulane.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4YJjHQ9B1EthEMu

One of the questions asks you to record your current temperature using the WeatherSTEM stations. This is a link to WeatherSTEM Portal for Orleans Parish https://orleans.weatherstem.com/ choose the station closest to where you placed the trap and made your collection. We are using the WeatherSTEM stations since the New Orleans Health Deartment uses this data in their research and weather stations can vary in accuracy.

The form will also ask you about your use of AC at home and what temperature it is set to during the day and also at night.

If your trap is lost, damaged or missing, just let us know and we can relace it, additional supplies are also available in your classroom.

Please reach out to me with any questions,

Dr Sarah Michaels smichael@tulane.edu

Resources

Mosquito Life Cycle https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/pdfs/aedeslifecycle-p.pdf