First record and morphological characterization of an established population of Aedes (Hulecoeteomyia) koreicus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Germany

Wolf Peter Pfitzner,Alice Lehner,Norbert Becker,Daniel Hoffmann,Christina Czajka

doi:10.1186/s13071-018-3199-4

Abstract

BackgroundThe East Asian mosquito species Aedes koreicus was recorded out of its native range for the first time in Belgium in 2008. Since then, several other European populations or single individuals have been observed throughout Europe with reports from Italy, Switzerland, European Russia, Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. The Italian population seems to be the only one that is expanding rapidly, so the Swiss population very likely derives from it.ResultsIn a surveillance program for invasive mosquito species, a single larva of Ae. koreicus was found in a cemetery vase in 2016 in the city of Wiesbaden, Germany. In the following year the finding was confirmed and an established population could be proven over an area of about 50 km2. The morphological identification of the first larva was confirmed by sequencing of a region within the nad4 sequence. A study of adult females showed that the morphological characteristics of this population are not identical to the populations from Belgium and Italy. The eggs and larvae were found together with Aedes j. japonicus in the same breeding sites and ovitraps, as well as with other indigenous mosquito species such as Culex pipiens/Culex torrentium, Aedes geniculatus and Anopheles plumbeus.ConclusionsSince the newly discovered population in Germany shows different morphological characteristics to the populations in Belgium and Italy, it seems to originate from an independent introduction. It remains unknown how the introduction took place. A further spread similar to the one in northern Italy can be assumed for the future due to similar climatic conditions.

Highlights

The East Asian mosquito species Aedes koreicus was recorded out of its native range for the first time in Belgium in 2008
It is closely related to the Asian bush mosquito Aedes (Hulecoeteomyia) japonicus japonicus (Theobald), which has spread over North America and central Europe in recent years [3]
The KABS member municipalities are situated in south-western Germany along approximately 300 km of the Upper Rhine, ranging from the mountain Kaiserstuhl near Freiburg in the south, up to the city of Bingen in the north where the Rhine starts running through the Rhine gorge (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

The East Asian mosquito species Aedes koreicus was recorded out of its native range for the first time in Belgium in 2008. Several other European populations or single individuals have been observed throughout Europe with reports from Italy, Switzerland, European Russia, Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. The container-breeding mosquito species Aedes (Hulecoeteomyia) koreicus (Edwards) is native to Korea, north-eastern China and eastern Russia [1]. It appears to be quite uncommon in Japan and was reported by LaCasse & Yamaguti [2] only from the north of Hokkaido. Other reports of Ae. koreicus in Europe come from Russia [15], Slovenia [16], Germany [17] and Hungary [18]

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