Maryland Pesticide Applicator Category 8: Public Health (Mosquito Control) Practice Test

Carbon dioxide is a primary cue mosquitoes use to locate hosts from a distance. When traps emit CO2, they mimic a breathing host and attract host-seeking mosquitoes, increasing the chance they will enter the trap. The trap that uses carbon dioxide as an attractant is the CO2-baited trap, which can be supplied with dry ice or other CO2 sources to draw in mosquitoes for surveillance or control. Light traps rely on light, not CO2, to attract insects; oviposition traps and gravid traps target female mosquitoes ready to lay eggs or seeking an oviposition site and use water or infusions rather than CO2.