The purpose of this SOP is to outline the materials and processes required to perform pyrethrum spray catches (PSCs) inside rooms or houses to collect indoor resting mosquitoes.PSCs are commonly called knockdown spray catches.
Description:Pyrethrum spray catches is a standard method of catching mosquitoes resting inside houses and animal shelters. It is usually an efficient method, but its efficacy depends on the house construction. Briefly, it involves spraying the interior of the structure with an adulticide to knock down any resting mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are then collected of white sheets placed on the ground.
Target species and physiological states: Captures resting adults of both sexes and many species.
Entomological surveillance indicators: Adult vector occurrence, density and resting location.
Advantage:Pyrethrum spray catches are cheap and relatively simple to perform.
Disadvantage:Pyrethrum spray catches are labour intensive and require trained staff and while make it efficient to capture resting mosquitoes, specific information on where the mosquitoes are resting (how high on a wall) are not available from this technique. This technique may not work for Aedes species resting under furniture covered by collection sheets.
Sampling period: Collections should take during period of minimum flight activity. For Anopheles mosquitoes, preferably in the early morning.
Data:Total number of resting mosquitoes per sampling effort (by species and sex).