Abstract
The invasion and subsequent establishment in California of Aedes aegypti in 2013 has created new challenges for local mosquito abatement and vector control districts. Studies were undertaken to identify effective and economical strategies to monitor the abundance and spread of this mosquito species as well as for its control. Overall, BG Sentinel (BGS) traps were found to be the most sensitive trap type to measure abundance and spread into new locations. Autocidal-Gravid-Ovitraps (AGO-B), when placed at a site for a week, performed equally to BGS in detecting the presence of female Ae. aegypti. Considering operational cost and our findings, we recommend use of BGS traps for surveillance in response to service requests especially in locations outside the known infestation area. We recommend AGO-Bs be placed at fixed sites, cleared and processed once a week to monitor mosquito abundance within a known infestation area. Long-term high density placements of AGO-Bs were found to show promise as an environmentally friendly trap-kill control strategy. California Ae. aegypti were found to be homozygous for the V1016I mutation in the voltage gated sodium channel gene, which is implicated to be involved in insecticide resistance. This strain originating from Clovis, California was resistant to some pyrethroids but not to deltamethrin in bottle bio-assays. Sentinel cage ultra-low-volume (ULV) trials using a new formulation of deltamethrin (DeltaGard®) demonstrated that it provided some control (average of 56% death in sentinel cages in a 91.4 m spray swath) after a single truck mounted aerial ULV application in residential areas.
Highlights
Aedes aegypti Linnaeus is presumed to have become established in the southeastern United States of America between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries (Tabachnick, 1991)
The state of California, had remained free from this vector until the summer of 2013 (Gloria-Soria et al, 2014), when Ae. aegypti were simultaneously collected in CO2-Baited Encephalitis Virus Surveillance traps (EVS) in the cities of Clovis (Fresno County) and Madera (Madera County) and later in oviposition cups in Menlo Park (San Mateo County)
Based on the oviposition cup data within the infestation area during the 10 week trap evaluation trial the average numbers of eggs deposited in oviposition cups in Clovis per week was 291 (SD= 432.6), which was less than the average of 447.6 eggs/day in Tucson, Arizona (Hoeck et al, 2003)
Summary
Aedes aegypti Linnaeus is presumed to have become established in the southeastern United States of America between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries (Tabachnick, 1991). Its spread to the US between 1795 and 1905 precipitated major epidemics of yellow fever throughout the east coast and southern states (Crosby, 2006). Today this mosquito serves as the vector of three additional human viruses, dengue, chikungunya and Zika, which pose a major threat to global public health. Collections of Ae. aegypti in 2014 and 2015, and further expansion of its distribution proved that this mosquito species is capable of surviving through the winter and has established as a viable breeding population in California. The ongoing widespread invasion and establishment of Ae. aegypti proves that this is a state-wide and not a regional issue in California
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