Cheese and cheese infusions: ecological traps for mosquitoes and spotted wing Drosophila.

Our data show that microbial metabolites associated with cheese are attractive to mosquito females seeking hosts and oviposition sites and are likely toxic to mosquito larvae. These microbes and their metabolites could thus be co-opted for both the attract, and the kill, function of 'attract & kill' mosquito control tactics. Implementation of customizable and non-conventional nutritional media as microbe-based ecological traps presents a promising concept which exploits insect ecology for insect control. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.