Asian Tiger Mosquito in Yucatan Peninsula: First Record of Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Campeche, Mexico

Updated checklist of the mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of Mexico

Based on historical and recent records, an updated list of 244 nominal species and three undescribed mosquitoes from Mexico is presented. Since 1990, 15 species have been recorded for the first time in Mexico: Aedes guatemala, Ae. brelandi, Ae. insolitus, Ae. melanimon, Ae. albopictus, Culex daumastocampa, Cx. metempsytus, Cx. erethyzonfer, Culiseta melanura, Limatus asulleptus, Sabethes gymnothorax, Trichoprosopon pallidiventer, Toxorhynchites moctezuma, Uranotaenia socialis, and Wyeomyia chalcocephala. Five species were discovered and described: Ae. amaterui, Ae. lewnielseni, Cx. diamphidius, Shannoniana huasteca, and Tr. mixtli. Three species were discovered without yet describing or naming them: Ae. (Protomacleaya) sp. 1, Ae. (Ochlerotatus) sp. 2, and Wyeomyia sp. 3. Five species had been removed from the Mexican mosquito fauna: Ae. stigmaticus, Cx. imitator, Onirion personatum, Sa. tarsopus, and Tx. theobaldi. With the intention of updating the checklist of the mosquito species in Mexico, historical and recent species records were reviewed, as well as the review of entomological collections, resulting in the confirmation of the presence in Mexico of Ae. thelcter, Cs. impatiens, and Orthopodomyia alba. Morphological and molecular evidence confirms the presence of Wy. jocosa, while Anopheles atropos, Psorophora confinnis, Cx. jenningsi, Mansonia indubitans, Tr. pallidiventer, and Tr. soaresi are removed from the Mexican mosquito fauna.

Special Collection: Highlights of Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology. Highlights in Medical Entomology, 2021

Life remained far from normal as we completed the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and entered a second year. Despite the challenges faced worldwide, together we continue to move the field of Medical Entomology forward. Here, I reflect on parallels between control of Covid-19 and vector-borne disease control, discuss the advantages and caveats of using new genotyping technologies for the study of invasive species, and proceed to highlight papers that were published between 2020 and 2021 with a focus on those related to mosquito surveillance and population genetics of mosquito vectors.

Update on the Dispersal of Aedes albopictus in Mexico: 1988–2021

The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is one of the most important mosquito species in public health due to the variety of disease-causing viruses that this species can transmit. In Mexico, Ae. albopictus was reported for the first time in 1990 in the state of Tamaulipas, bordering to the state of Texas (USA). Since then, Ae. albopictus has been reported in 15 Mexican states. Currently, this species is present in all tropical and subtropical regions of the country and its presence is common in the states of the Gulf of Mexico and Chiapas. In the present study, the presence of Ae. albopictus is reported in six additional states: Colima, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Querétaro. The rapid dispersal of Ae. albopictus in Mexico represents a risk to public health, and the surveillance of this species in regions where it has not yet been reported is essential as part of Mexican entomological surveillance programs.

Detection of Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) in ovitraps of Mérida city, México

Introduction: The vector-borne diseases program in México has an established network of ovitraps for entomological surveillance of Aedes spp. In response to reports of Aedes albopictus in the periphery of Mérida, the state capital of Yucatán, the Ministry of Health increased the specificity of this surveillance. Objective: To describe the presence and distribution of Ae. albopictus in Mérida and its relative abundance compared to Aedes aegypti in ovitraps of the vector control program. Materials and methods: During October, 2019, 91 ovitraps were randomly selected from 31 neighborhoods of Mérida. Mosquitoes were reared at the insectary of the Collaborative Unit for Entomological Bioassays of the Autonomous University of Yucatán from eggs collected in the field. Relative abundance was determined for adult individuals of each identified species and neighborhood. Results: 32 % of the neighborhoods were positive for Ae. albopictus and 100 % for Ae. aegypti. A total of 28 adults of Ae. albopictus (10 females and 18 males) were obtained from ovitraps. No correlation was observed between the abundance of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus for both adults and females (p>0.05) at the neighborhood level. Conclusions: The results confirm that Ae. albopictus coexisted with Ae. aegypti in Mérida at the time of the study. The low relative abundance suggests that Ae. albopictus was in the initial phase of invasion.

Assessing the Potential Distributions of the Invasive Mosquito Vector Aedes albopictus and Its Natural Wolbachia Infections in México

The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is currently the most invasive vector species, with a widespread global distribution. Aedes albopictus is the potential vector of diverse arboviruses, including Zika and dengue. This study updated the ecological niche model of Ae. albopictus and inferred the potential distribution of natural Wolbachia infections in Ae. albopictus in México. The ecological niche models were constructed based on diverse model settings to better estimate the potential distributions and uncertainty indices of both Ae. albopictus and its natural Wolbachia infections in México. The distribution of Ae. albopictus covered the states across Northern México, the Gulf of México, the Pacific Coast of México, Central México, and the southeast of México. The ecological niche model of the natural Wolbachia infections in Ae. albopictus populations anticipated the occurrence of natural Wolbachia infections in the southeast of México, the Chiapas border with Guatemala, and Veracruz. These results can be used to prioritize vector surveillance and control programs in México for strategic and future decision-making; however, it is still necessary to establish active surveillance programs to assess model predictions based on the independent sampling of Ae. albopictus from different invasion zones in México. Finally, vector surveillance should also screen the natural Wolbachia infections in Ae. albopictus to validate Wolbachia predictions across México, particularly in the southeast of México.

Identification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from Mexico State, Mexico using morphology and COI DNA barcoding

Mosquitoes are commonly identified to species level using morphological traits, but complementary methods for identification are often necessary when specimens are collected as immature stages, stored inadequately, or when delineation of species complexes is problematic. DNA-barcoding using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene is one such tool used for the morphological identification of species. A comprehensive entomological survey of mosquito species in Mexico State identified by COI DNA barcoding and morphology is documented in this paper. Specimens were collected from all the physiographic provinces in Mexico State between 2017 and 2019. Overall, 2,218 specimens were collected from 157 localities representing both subfamilies Anophelinae and Culicinae. A species checklist that consists of 6 tribes, 10 genera, 20 subgenera, and 51 species, 35 of which are new records for Mexico State, is provided. Three hundred and forty-two COI sequences of 46 species were analysed. Mean intraspecific and interspecific distances ranged between 0% to 3.9% and from 1.2% to 25.3%, respectively. All species groups were supported by high bootstraps values in a Neighbour-Joining analysis, and new COI sequences were generated for eight species: Aedes chionotum Zavortink, Ae. vargasi Schick, Ae. gabriel Schick, Ae. guerrero Berlin, Ae. ramirezi Vargas and Downs, Haemagogus mesodentatus Komp and Kumm, Culex restrictor Dyar and Knab, and Uranotaenia geometrica Theobald. This study provides a detailed inventory of the Culicidae from Mexico State and discusses the utility of DNA barcoding as a complementary tool for accurate mosquito species identification in Mexico.