Student Research Reports

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The goals of this project are to investigate the influence of different colours of mosquito traps on the oviposition and development of mosquito and to determine whether the seasons will affect the number of mosquitoes found in mosquito traps. Three research questions have been formed: ● How does the trap colour (black, brown, dark blue, light blue, green, purple, red, orange, yellow, and white) influence oviposition and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes? ● Are there seasonal changes in oviposition and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes? ● Did the abundance and genera of observed mosquitoes change during the period between 2016 and 2021? Using GLOBE Mosquito protocols and GLOBE Hydrology protocols, we conducted the project in two phases. In the first phase, mosquito traps were placed on the outside of the biology cabinet during April and May, while in the second phase, mosquito traps were placed in the same place, only during the summer months of August and September. In both phases of the study, there were clear differences in mosquito preferences toward a trap colour. In both seasons, there was an increase in the number of mosquitoes of the genus Aedes at all developmental stages in the darker coloured mosquito traps, while other genera did not appear at all in any mosquito traps. Also, research has found that the number of mosquitoes of the genus Aedes is higher during the summer than during the spring. In future investigations it would be necessary to conduct research in all four seasons, with an even greater number of traps in different locations and it would be desirable to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the water after the end of the experiment.