Environmental Determinants of Aedes albopictus Abundance at a Northern Limit of Its Range in the United States

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 2020-02, Vol.102 (2), p.436-447
• Main Authors: Kache, Pallavi A, Eastwood, Gillian, Collins-Palmer, Kaitlin, Katz, Marly, Falco, Richard C, Bajwa, Waheed I, Armstrong, Philip M, Andreadis, Theodore G, Diuk-Wasser, Maria A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological; Aedes - physiology; Animal Distribution; Animal populations; Animals; Connecticut; Databases, Factual; Dispersal; Environment; Environmental conditions; Global positioning systems; GPS; Mosquitoes; New York; Parasitology; Population Density; Vectors (Biology)
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0244

is a vector of arboviruses with high rates of morbidity and mortality. The northern limit of in the northeastern United States runs through New York state (NYS) and Connecticut. We present a landscape-level analysis of mosquito abundance measured by daily counts of from 338 trap sites in 12 counties during May-September 2017. During the study period, the mean number of caught per day of trapping across all sites was 3.21. We constructed four sets of negative binomial generalized linear models to evaluate how trapping methodology, land cover, as well as temperature and precipitation at multiple time intervals influenced abundance. Biogents-Sentinel (BGS) traps were 2.78 times as efficient as gravid traps and 1.49 times as efficient as CO -baited CDC light traps. Greater proportions of low- and medium-intensity development and low proportions of deciduous cover around the trap site were positively associated with increased abundance, as were minimum winter temperature and March precipitation. The cumulative precipitation within a 28-day time window before the date of collection had a nonlinear relationship with abundance, such that greater cumulative precipitation was associated with increased abundance until approximately 70 mm, above which there was a decrease in abundance. We concluded that populations are established in Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City counties in NYS; north of these counties, the species is undergoing population invasion and establishment. We recommend that mosquito surveillance programs monitoring the northward invasion of place BGS traps at sites chosen with respect to land cover.