Effective trapping of adult mosquitoes in the wild can reduce the spread of deadly
human pathogens, such as Plasmodium species causing malaria. The efficacy of this strategy
depends on the capacity of the trap to attract and retain insects, and specific odorants such
as octenol in mushrooms are strong attractants for mosquitoes. In this study, we assessed the
efficiency of a resting box baited with five different extracts from local edible mushrooms,
Pleurotus ostreatus, Thaeogyroporus porentosus, Volvariella volvacea, Pleurotus sajorcaju,
and Lentinus edodes, for attracting mosquito vectors in Samut Songkhram Province,
Thailand. Extracts were used in identical “resting box” at 50, 100, and 200 mg/mL per box.
Compared to the unbaited resting box (control), only traps containing 200 mg/mL of L. edodes
extract captured significantly more mosquitoes (16.00 ± 3.61 vs. 7.00 ± 1.00 per resting box
per night, p<0.05). Attraction efficacy did not increase progressively with tested amount for
most extracts. These findings indicate that L. edodes extract can be used as an inexpensive,
non-toxic, and locally sourced attractant to increase the efficacy of mosquito control.