Jackson’s trap consists of 64 “smart cells,” compartments outfitted with an infrared light beam. When an insect crosses the beam, its shadow changes the light intensity in a way that forms almost a fingerprint for that species, Jackson said.

Program the trap for the desired species — such as the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is the main Zika threat — and when one flies into a cell, its door snaps closed. In pilot testing in Harris County, Texas, last July and August, the trap was more than 90 percent accurate in identifying the insect buzzing through the door, Jackson said.

Harris County already is well known in public health for strong mosquito surveillance, and had been keeping a sharp eye out for Zika — fortunately finding none. But mosquito control director Mustapha Debboun called the high-tech trap promising, and is looking forward to larger scale testing this summer.

“If we are trying to collect the Zika virus mosquito, you can teach this trap to collect just that mosquito,” he said.

When each mosquito is captured, sensors record the time, temperature, humidity and other factors to show what environmental conditions have different species buzzing. That’s information officials might use to schedule pesticide spraying.