Horse-baited insect trap and mobile insect sorting table used in a disease vector identification study

A horse-baited trap and a mobile insect sorting table were used to conduct an arthropod survey for potential vectors of Potomac Horse Fever in southern Maryland and northern Virginia. The trap and table worked effectively for the live collection and sorting of haemophagous Diptera such as: Simulium spp., Stomoxys calcitrans, Musca autumnalis, Tabanus spp. and Chrysops spp. during the diurnal collections periods, and Culicoides spp. during the crepuscular periods. The trap was not as convenient for live collection of mosquito species during the nocturnal period. Modifications to the trap design was suggested for mosquito live trapping.