Fig. 1

Illustrations of mosquito traps. A The human landing catch (HLC) technique showing a catcher transferring a trapped mosquito that they have aspirated from their lower limb into a collection container. B The standard CDC-LT (Model 512; John W. Hock Company, Gainesville, FL). C A study field assistant setting up a CDC-LT inside a house at the foot of an occupied bed net with the entry point of the trap 70 cm from the ground. D The human decoy trap (HDT). A study field assistant preparing the tent to be occupied by a human. Host odour emanating from a protected human in the tent positioned nearby is blown by a battery-powered computer fan down the connecting pipe and delivered around the sticky black target. The sticky target consists of a cylindrical container, dark in colour to improve visual contrast, and is wrapped by an adhesive transparent plastic material. The target is augmented by filling it with warm water kept at 35 ± 5 °C by a heating mechanism, to give mosquitoes a combination of olfactory cues from the host odour as well as heat. Host-seeking mosquitoes lured by heat and smell and the dark colour around the target are trapped on its sticky surface