Abstract. We report the results of three mark-release-recapture experiments carried out in an urban area in Rome, Italy, to study the active dispersal of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae). The 4.3% recapture rate obtained supports the use of sticky traps in MRR experiments to study the dispersal of Ae. albopictus females. Most fluorescent dust-marked females were recaptured at the gravid stage at 50-200 m from the release sites during the first 9 days after release. The average of daily-MDTs (Mean Distance Traveled) was 119 m and the maximum observed distance travelled ranged from 199 m to 290 m in the three replicates.

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Knowledge of the frequency of contact between a mosquito species and its different hosts is essential to understand the role of each vector species in the transmission of diseases to humans and/or animals. However, no data are so far available on the feeding habits of Aedes albopictus in Italy or in other recently colonized temperate regions of Europe, due to difficulties in collecting blood-fed females of this diurnal and exophilic species. We analyzed Ae. albopictus host-feeding patterns in two urban and two rural sites within the area of Rome (Italy). Ae. albopictus was collected using sticky-traps and the blood-meal origin of 303 females was determined by direct dot-ELISA. The blood-fed sample, although representing only 4% of the total Ae. albopictus collected, demonstrates the useful application of sticky-trap in studying the feeding behavior of the species. The human blood index was significantly different among sites, ranging from 79-96% in urban sites to 23-55% in rural sites, where horses and bovines represented the most bitten hosts. The results obtained confirm the plastic feeding behavior shown by Ae. albopictus in its original range of distribution and highlights the high potential of this species as a vector of human pathogens in urban areas of Italy, where both humans and the mosquito itself may reach very high densities.

The mosquito Aedes albopictusi is a competent vector of harmful human pathogens, including viruses causing dengue and chikungunya. Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) induced by endosymbiotic Wolbachia can be used to produce functionally sterile males that can be released in the field as a suppression tool against this mosquito. Because the available sexing methods are not efficient enough to avoid unintentional release of a few transinfected females, we assessed the CI pattern in crosses between wPip Wolbachia-transinfected (ARwP) females and wild-type males of Ae. albopictus in this study. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to monitor the titer of the Wolbachia strains that naturally infect Ae. albopictus, that is, wAlbA and wAlbB, in age-controlled males and females. Data were coupled with incompatibility level detected when the above-mentioned males were crossed with ARwP females. Wolbachia infection titer was also monitored in samples of wild caught males. Incompatibility level was positively correlated only with wAlbA density. Crosses between wild-type males having very low wAlbA density (<0.001 wAlbA/actin copy numbers) and ARwP females were partially fertile (CIcorr = 68.06 ± 6.20). Individuals with low wAlbA titer were frequently found among sampled wild males (30%–50% depending on the site and period). ARwP males can be as considered as a very promising tool for suppressing Ae. albopictus. However, crosses between wild males having low wAlbA density and ARwP females may be partially fertile. In the case of local establishment of the transinfected mosquito line, this occurrence may favor the replacement of the wild-type mosquitoes with the ARwP line, thus reducing the long-term efficacy of incompatible insect technique. Various alternative strategies have been discussed to prevent this risk and to exploit Wolbachia as a tool to control Ae. albopictus.