Which statement about resting boxes is accurate?

• A. They attract resting mosquitoes during daylight.
• B. They attract resting mosquitoes at night.
• C. They are used to measure larval density only.
• D. They have no practical use in surveillance.

Answer: (A)

Resting boxes are built to capture adult mosquitoes during the time they typically rest, which is during daylight hours. After feeding or during the heat of the day, many mosquitoes seek sheltered, dark, or humid spots to pause and digest or escape sun and predators. A resting box provides that kind of resting environment, so mosquitoes fly in and rest inside, making it possible to collect them for species identification and surveillance data.

This is not about larvae. Larval density is measured in water samples from habitats where larvae develop, not by resting boxes. Resting boxes have practical use in surveillance because they allow sampling of resting adult mosquitoes, which helps monitor species composition, population levels, and infection rates. Saying they attract mosquitoes at night doesn’t fit their purpose, since the primary sampling occurs during the day when mosquitoes are resting.