Bed net trap for the collection of host-seeking mosquitoes
The Mbita trap which is a bed-net trap described by
Mathenge et al. (2002) was used to
capture host-seeking mosquitoes. This is a modified conical bed-net made
of light white cotton cloth instead of netting (Fig.2). The trap has two
chambers; the upper trap chamber and the lower bait chamber. The upper
chamber contained a netting panel fixed halfway (Fig. 2A) to prevent
mosquitoes from reaching the human bait sleeping in the lower chamber
(Fig. 2B). For this experiment, the netting panels were either treated
or untreated. The treated netting panels were cut from DawaPlus 2.0 a
long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) containing 80
mg/m2 deltamethrin. The nets were selected for this
experiment based on the fact that they were distributed in the largest
proportion in the study site by the National Malaria Control Programme
in Kenya during the 2017 mass net campaign. The untreated bed net was
obtained from the local market in Kisumu, Kenya.