An Evaluation of Characters for the Separation of Two Culex Species (Diptera: Culicidae) Based on Material From the Upper Midwest

Ferreira-de-Freitas, Lílian; Thrun, Nicholas B; Tucker, Bradley J.; Melidosian, Lauren

doi:10.1093/jisesa/ieaa119

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…infirmatus may again reflect broad occurrence across landscape types. In addition, the potential for unmeasured covariance between spatial and temporal niche dynamics, especially given these taxa are known to be tied to the dynamics of wet season timing in North and Central Florida, may contribute to observed patterns [ 53 , 64 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito vectors of West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses using Markov Random Fields (MRFcov)

Sallam

Whitehead²,

Barve

et al. 2023

Parasites Vectors

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Mosquito vectors of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) in the USA reside within broad multi-species assemblages that vary in spatial and temporal composition, relative abundances and vector competence. These variations impact the risk of pathogen transmission and the operational management of these species by local public health vector control districts. However, most models of mosquito vector dynamics focus on single species and do not account for co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito species pairs across environmental gradients. In this investigation, we use for the first time conditional Markov Random Fields (CRF) to evaluate spatial co-occurrence patterns between host-seeking mosquito vectors of EEEV and WNV around sampling sites in Manatee County, Florida. Specifically, we aimed to: (i) quantify correlations between mosquito vector species and other mosquito species; (ii) quantify correlations between mosquito vectors and landscape and climate variables; and (iii) investigate whether the strength of correlations between species pairs are conditional on landscape or climate variables. We hypothesized that either mosquito species pairs co-occur in patterns driven by the landscape and/or climate variables, or these vector species pairs are unconditionally dependent on each other regardless of the environmental variables. Our results indicated that landscape and bioclimatic covariates did not substantially improve the overall model performance and that the log abundances of the majority of WNV and EEEV vector species were positively dependent on other vector and non-vector mosquito species, unconditionally. Only five individual mosquito vectors were weakly dependent on environmental variables with one exception, Culiseta melanura, the primary vector for EEEV, which showed a strong correlation with woody wetland, precipitation seasonality and average temperature of driest quarter. Our analyses showed that majority of the studied mosquito species’ abundance and distribution are insignificantly better predicted by the biotic correlations than by environmental variables. Additionally, these mosquito vector species may be habitat generalists, as indicated by the unconditional correlation matrices between species pairs, which could have confounded our analysis, but also indicated that the approach could be operationalized to leverage species co-occurrences as indicators of vector abundances in unsampled areas, or under scenarios where environmental variables are not informative. Graphical Abstract

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito vectors of West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses using Markov Random Fields (MRFcov)

Sallam

Whitehead²,

Barve

et al. 2023

Parasites Vectors

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“…Culex spp. mosquitoes from gravid traps were stored at –20 °C, then identified to species based on morphological characters as part of a concurrent study (Ferreira-de-freitas et al 2020); some of these specimens were reported in that paper (C1 is labeled as “All Saints Cemetery”). Pools of approximately 50 Cx.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-low volume (ULV) adulticide treatment impacts age structure of Culex species (Diptera: Culicidae) in a West Nile virus hotspot

Lopez

Irwin

Bron³

et al. 2023

Journal of Medical Entomology

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West Nile virus (WNV) invaded the continental United States over 20 years ago and continues to cause yearly seasonal outbreaks of human and veterinary disease. In the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, ultra-low volume (ULV) truck-mounted adulticide spraying frequently is performed to reduce populations of Culex restuans Theobald and Cx. pipiens L. mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in an effort to lower the risk of WNV transmission. The effectiveness of this control method has not been rigorously evaluated, and evidence for Culex population reduction after ULV adulticide spraying has been inconclusive. Therefore, we evaluated the results of 5 sequential weekly truck-mounted adulticide applications of Zenivex® E20 (etofenprox) in 2 paired sites located in Cook County, IL, during the summer of 2018. Mosquito population abundance, age structure, and WNV infection prevalence were monitored and compared between paired treatment and nearby control sites. Adulticide treatment did not result in consistent short-term or long-term reductions in target WNV vector Culex abundance. However, there was a significant increase in the proportion of nulliparous females in the treated sites compared to control sites and a decrease in Cx. pipiens WNV infection rates at one of the treated sites. This evidence that ULV adulticide spraying altered the age structure and WNV infection prevalence in a vector population has important implications for WNV transmission risk management. Our findings also underscore the importance of measuring these important indicators in addition to abundance metrics when evaluating the efficacy of control methods.

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“…Trapping sites (gravid or NJLT) with less than three years of mosquito data were excluded from the study. All mosquito samples were identified using morphological keys (40, 82) where possible. Due to damage to morphological features that help to define Culex species (83), mosquito identifications of Culex pipiens and Culex restuans from NJLT traps were defined as Culex pipiens group as previously (32, 34).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to damage to morphological features that help to define Culex species (83), mosquito identifications of Culex pipiens and Culex restuans from NJLT traps were defined as Culex pipiens group as previously (32, 34). Gravid trap specimens were identified to species ( Culex pipiens ) (82). To normalize trapping efforts, raw mosquito counts were converted to a trap index (defined as the number of mosquitoes collected / number of trapping nights) and then averaged by week.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semi-field and surveillance data define the natural diapause timeline forCulex pipiensacross the United States

Field

Shepard

Clifton

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Culex pipiens is a globally-distributed mosquito of medical and veterinary importance, serving as a primary vector of West Nile virus (WNV). To survive winter, female Cx. pipiens mosquitoes undergo adult reproductive diapause initiated by photoperiod and temperature cues. While well-studied under laboratory conditions, the environmental signals that promote Cx. pipiens diapause induction in natural settings are less understood. Here, we evaluate Cx. pipiens in laboratory and semi-field studies to examine diapause induction, defining an approximate timeline beginning in late-August where mosquitoes become receptive to diapause. Using gravid (reproductive) mosquito surveillance data as a proxy for adult diapause incidence for locations across the United States (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia), we demonstrate consistent population declines coinciding with periods of diapause receptivity except in hybridization zones where Cx. quinquefasciatus is present, suggesting that Culex population genetics can significantly impact end-season population trends. Together, this study defines a window for diapause induction across the United States, shaped by temperature, latitude, elevation, and mosquito population genetics. Coinciding with the cessation of WNV activity, these data can have important implications for mosquito control, where targeted efforts prior to diapause induction can decrease mosquito populations and WNV overwintering to reduce mosquito-borne disease incidence the following season.

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An Evaluation of Characters for the Separation of Two Culex Species (Diptera: Culicidae) Based on Material From the Upper Midwest

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito vectors of West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses using Markov Random Fields (MRFcov)

Co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito vectors of West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses using Markov Random Fields (MRFcov)

Ultra-low volume (ULV) adulticide treatment impacts age structure of Culex species (Diptera: Culicidae) in a West Nile virus hotspot

Semi-field and surveillance data define the natural diapause timeline forCulex pipiensacross the United States

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