DOCSLIB.ORG

Colonization of Culex Nigripalpus Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae) by Stimulation of Mating Using Males of Other Mosquito Species

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Colonization of Culex Nigripalpus Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae) by Stimulation of Mating Using Males of Other Mosquito Species Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, l5(l):72-73, 1999 Copyright @ 1999 by the American Mosquito Control Association, Inc. COLONIZATION OF CULEX NIGRIPALPUS THEOBALD (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) BY STIMULATION OF MATING USING MALES OF OTHER MOSQUITO SPECIES J. W. KNIGHT nNo J. K. NAYAR Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, IFAS, llniversity of Florida, 200 9th Street, SE, Vero Beach, FL 3296:2 ABSTRACT' Culex nigripalpzs Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae) was recolonized successfully by cohabiting Aedes taeniorhynchus males or males of other mosquito species starting in a large outdoor cage under natural Iight-dark cycles and temperatures and ending in a 1-ft.3 cage under artificial light-dark cycles at 24"C without added stimulation. KEY WORDS Culex nigripalpus, Culex salinarius, Culex restuans, male Aedes taeniorhynchus, coloniza- tion, mating stimulation Culex nigripalpus Theobald is an important vec- larvae were identified a few hours after a hatch tor of diseases of humans and is a major pest of (Dodge 1966), and larvae were reared to the adult livestock in rural south-central Florida. It is incrim- stage in the laboratory by the method of Nayar inated as a vector of St. Louis encephalitis in hu- (1968). Simultaneously, Ae. taeniorhynchus adults mans, eastern equine encephalitis in horses, dog from a laboratory colony were reared in the labo- heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) in dogs, wild tur- ratory by the method of Nayar (1967). Only Ae. key malaria (Plasmodium hermani) avian pox virus taeniorhynchus males, separated from females, of wild turkeys in wild turkeys, and avian malaria were used to stimulate copulation of Cx. nigripal- (Plasmodium elongatum) in hawks and owls (Nayar pus adults. 1982, Nayar et al. 1998). Even though this species Newly emerged adults of Cx. nigripalprr,r arrd was colonized in the mid-1960s (Haeger 1963, Pro- newly emerged males of Ae. taeniorhynchus wete vost 1969) and was maintained at the Florida Med- released in cages for mating trials. Adult mosqui- ical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL) in Vero toes were provided a 107o sucrose solution in cot- Beach, FL, for about 2O years before the colony ton wicks. After they were allowed to mate for 8- was lost, few details have been published on its 10 days, the adult mosquitoes were fed blood over- colonization. In the earliest attempts to colonize C-x. night on restrained chickens. Ten days after blood- nigripalpus in the laboratory, Haeger (1963) ob- feeding, groups of 100 females were placed in served low sperm transfer during mating under ar- l-pint plastic cups with lids and provided with oak- tificial conditions in the laboratory. Subsequently, leaf infusion for egg laying overnight. Egg rafts he obtained significant insemination from Cx. ni- were collected the next day and put in individual gripalpus copulations when he provided the stim- tubes containing water and a small amount of liver ulus of swarming and mating Aedes taeniorhynchus powder and yeast (1:3) mixture as a source of food. in the same cage (Provost 1969). Later, Haeger and Egg rafts that hatched were counted and recorded. O'Meara (1970) were able to introduce wild genes In the first series of trials. the wild adults of Cx. into an established Cx. nigripalpr.r colony by mat- nigripalpus (2,000+) and males of Ae. taeniorhyn- ing colony females with wild males. Earlier, Niel- chus (2,M+) were released at emergence into a sen and Haeger (1960) showed that, in mosquitoes, large, screened, wood-framed, walk-in cage (6 ft. male swarming and mating frequently occur simul- long X 6 ft. wide x 8 ft. high) on a cement floor taneously, especially under laboratory conditions, under a Lexan-paneled roof enclosure under a can- even though swanning is not required for mating. opy of oak trees providing natural light-dark cycles These studies suggested that, in mosquitoes, male and temperature. Additional humidity was provided swarming may be an important factor in stimulating when the relative humidity of the air dropped below mating under artificial caged conditions. A new col- 707o. Sixteen percent of the egg rafts collected from ony of Cx. nigripalpas has recently been estab- these females hatched. In subsequent 4 trials, cage- lished in our laboratory by cohabiting males of Ae. m ted Cx. nigripalpus progeny were mixed with taeniorhynchzs or of other species of mosquitoes adults reared from wild egg rafts to populate the in the cage. This paper presents a procedure for cage adequately for mating in the above manner establishing and maintaining a laboratory colony of outdoors. About 6O7o of the egg rafts hatched dur- Cx. nigripalpus. ing these trials. In the final trial in the large cage Egg rafts of wild Cx. nigripalprs were collected outdoors, only cage-mated (colony) progeny of Cx. in black plastic pans (12 in. wide x 18 in. long X nigripalpus were used, and SOVo of the egg rafts 9 in. high) containing oak-leaf infusion at the hatched. After this trial outdoors, mating was at- FMEL. The wild egg rafts were hatched, first-instar tempted in 3-ft.3 cages indoors in a room with large 72 Mencu 1999 ScreNrtnrcNots 73 windows for natural light-dark cycles and main- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tained at 24"C. In 2 trials in 3-ft.3 cages, Cx. nigri- palpus adults were stimulated to mate by the ad- This is Florida Agricultural Experimental Sta- dition of Ae. taeniorhynchus males. In these trials, tion, Journal Series R-06286. We thank Jamie A. lSVo and Zl%o of the egg rafts hatched. At 24"C, Jennings for her technical assistance in conducting many of the Cx. nigripalpus survived up to 2 this study. months. Colonized Cx. nigripalprs were adapted to a 1- REF'ERENCES CITED ft.3 cage during the next 4 trials. In all these trials, Ae. taeniorhynchus males were added to cages to Dodge, H. R. 1966. Studies on mosquito larvae. II. The first-stage larvae of North stimulate mating. Egg rafts collected from these fe- American Culicidae and of world Anophelinae. Can. Entomol. 98 :33'7-393. males showed increases in egg hatching from 87o Haeger, J. S. 1963. Progress in colonization of Culex ni- in the flrst 2 trials to 40Vo in the 3rd trial and to gripalpus. Rep. 34th Annu. Meeting Fla. Anti-Mosquito 76Vo in the 4th trial. At present, we are maintaining Assoc. p. 82-85. our laboratory colony of Cx. nigripalpus in l-ft.3 Haeger, J. S. and G. F O'Meara. 1970. Rapid incorpo- cages in a bio-room maintained at 24"C with light- ration of wild genotype of Culex nigripalpus (Diptera: dark cycles of 12 h, and,Ae. taeniorhynchzs males Culicidae) into laboratory-adapted strain. Ann. Ento- are no longer added to stimulate mating. mol. Soc. Am. 63:1390-1391. Nayar, J. K. 1967. Pupation rhythm in Aedes taeniorhyn- We point out here that, during the process of lab- cy'las (Wiedemann). II. Ontogenetic timing, rate of de- oratory colonization of this species, some loss in velopment, and endogenous diurnal rhythm of pupation. genetic variability may have occurred, even though Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 6O:946-971. -fheo- it has not yet been demonstrated. However, genetic Nayar, J. K. 1968. Biology of Culex nigripalpus variability of this species can be substantially in- bald (Diptera: Culicidae). Part l: effect of rearing con- creased by incorporation of wild genes by mating ditions on growth and the diurnal rhythm of pupation colonized females with wild males, as was previ- and emergence. J. Med. Entomol. 5:39-46. ously demonstrated by Haeger and O'Meara Nayar, J. K. 1982. Bionomics and physiology of Culex (l970). nigripalpus (Diptera: Culicidae) of Florida: an impor- tant vector of diseases. Florida Agricultural Experimen- Other species of newly emerged males, such as tal Stations, IFAS, University of Florida, Bull. 827:1- Aedes albopictus allLdAnopheles quadrimaculatus, 73. Gainesville, FL. added to cages with newly emerged Cx. nigripalpus Nayar, J. K., J. W. Knight and S. R. Telford. 1998. Vector also stimulated mating and a higher percentage of ability of mosquitoes for isolates of Plasmodium elon- egg raft hatching was found than without their ad- gatum from raptors in Florida. J. Parasitol. 84:542-546. dition. These studies show that the addition of Ae. Nielsen, E. T and J. S. Haeger. 1960. Swarming and mat- taeniorhynchas males or males of other species of ing in mosquitoes. Entomol. Soc. Am. Misc. Publ. l: 7 r-95. mosquitoes apparently stimulate swarming of Cx. Provost, M. W. 1969. The natural history of Culex ni- nigripalpus to the extent that they mate with caged gripalpus. 1n.' St. Louis encephalitis in Florida-ten females in the laboratory. We have successfully years of research, surveillance and control programs, colonized Cx. nigripalpus, Culex salinarius, and 46-62. Floid,a State Board of Health Monogr. 12. Iack- Culex restuans by this technique. sonville, FL..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Catalogo De Los Diptera De Nicaragua. 4. Culicidae (Nematocera)
    Rev Rev. Nica. Ent., (1990) 14:19-39. CATALOGO DE LOS DIPTERA DE NICARAGUA. 4. CULICIDAE (NEMATOCERA). Por Jean-Michel Maes * & Pedro Rivera Mendoza.** Resumen. Este catálogo presenta las 40 especies de Culicidae (Diptera : Nematocera) reportadas de Nicaragua. Para cada especie se cita la sinonimia, la distribución geográfica, los hospederos, las enfermedades transmitidas y los enemigos naturales. La bibliografía conocida está agregada. Abstract. This catalogue presents the 40 species of Culicidae (Diptera : Nematocera) reported from Nicaragua. The geographical distribution, synonyms, hosts, diseases transmitted and natural enemies are given for each species. A bibliography of the Nicaraguayan species is included. * Museo Entomológico, A.P. 527, León, Nicaragua. ** Director del Departamento de Entomología Médica del Centro Nacional de Higiene y Epidemiología, Villa Ruben Darío M-254, Managua - 14, Nicaragua. file:///C|/My%20Documents/REVISTA/REV%2014A/14A%20Culicidae.htm (1 of 25) [20/12/2002 03:34:12 p.m.] Rev Introducción. Los Culicidae forman una familia numerosa de Diptera Nematocera. Las larvas son acuáticas, los adultos pueden ser identificados por la venacion alar presentando escamas y la proboscis larga. Son importantes a nivel medico por ser vectores de muchas enfermedades tropicales. Las larvas de zancudos se encuentran en muchos tipos de aguas, por ejemplo en charcos, huecos o recipientos artificiales, cada especie tiene un tipo de agua característico donde se reproduce. Los huevos son dejados en paquetes sobre la superficie del agua. Las larvas comen algas y materia vegetal en decomposición. Las larvas respiran principalmente a la superficie, ayudandose muchas veces de un sifón. La pupas son acuáticas y al contrario de los otros insectos, son bastante activas.
    [Show full text]
  • Wing Variation in Culex Nigripalpus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Urban Parks
    de Carvalho et al. Parasites & Vectors (2017) 10:423 DOI 10.1186/s13071-017-2348-5 RESEARCH Open Access Wing variation in Culex nigripalpus (Diptera: Culicidae) in urban parks Gabriela Cristina de Carvalho1, Daniel Pagotto Vendrami2, Mauro Toledo Marrelli1,2 and André Barretto Bruno Wilke1* Abstract Background: Culex nigripalpus has a wide geographical distribution and is found in North and South America. Females are considered primary vectors for several arboviruses, including Saint Louis encephalitis virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus, as well as a potential vector of West Nile virus. In view of the epidemiological importance of this mosquito and its high abundance, this study sought to investigate wing variation in Cx. nigripalpus populations from urban parks in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Female mosquitoes were collected in seven urban parks in the city of São Paulo between 2011 and 2013. Eighteen landmark coordinates from the right wing of each female mosquito were digitized, and the dissimilarities between populations were assessed by canonical variate analysis and cross-validated reclassification and by constructing a Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree based on Mahalanobis distances. The centroid size was calculated to determine mean wing size in each population. Results: Canonical variate analysis based on fixed landmarks of the wing revealed a pattern of segregation between urban and sylvatic Cx. nigripalpus, a similar result to that revealed by the NJ tree topology, in which the population from Shangrilá Park segregated into a distinct branch separate from the other more urban populations. Conclusion: Environmental heterogeneity may be affecting the wing shape variation of Cx.
    [Show full text]
  • Presence of Dirofilaria Immitis in Mosquitoes in Southeastern Georgia
    Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern University Honors Program Theses 2019 Presence of Dirofilaria immitis in mosquitoes in Southeastern Georgia Angelica C. Tumminello Georgia Southern University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses Part of the Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons, Other Animal Sciences Commons, Parasitology Commons, Small or Companion Animal Medicine Commons, and the Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons Recommended Citation Tumminello, Angelica C., "Presence of Dirofilaria immitis in mosquitoes in Southeastern Georgia" (2019). University Honors Program Theses. 495. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/495 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in University Honors Program Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Presence of Dirofilaria immitis in mosquitoes in Southeastern Georgia An Honors Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Department of Biology by Angelica C. Tumminello Under the mentorship of Dr. William Irby, PhD ABSTRACT Canine heartworm disease is caused by the filarial nematode Dirofilaria immitis, which is transmitted by at least 25 known species of mosquito vectors. This study sought to understand which species of mosquitoes are present in Bulloch County, Georgia, and which species are transmitting canine heartworm disease. This study also investigated whether particular canine demographics correlated with a greater risk of heartworm disease. Surveillance of mosquitoes was conducted in known heartworm-positive canine locations using traditional gravid trapping and vacuum sampling. Mosquito samples were frozen until deemed inactive, then identified by species and sex.
    [Show full text]
  • August 2019 in St
    Monthly Report AUGUST 2019 From the Director: The late summer month of August is the time of the year when South Loui- sianans are most at risk of infection from an arthropod-borne virus (arbovi- rus). Every year thousands of residents are bitten by mosquitoes infected with Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLE), and West Nile virus (WNV). All three endemic arboviruses in the region are primarily amplified by birds and transmitted by mosquitoes among birds, and incidentally to humans and other hosts. Fortunately, most of these infectious bites cause no or minor pathology and symptoms in humans. For the unfortunate minority, this trio of arboviral pathogens can be life-al- tering and life ending in some tragic cases. Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE) Eastern equine encephalitis virus is the rarest and most dangerous of the three arboviruses. Nearly a third of people that develop neurological symp- toms from EEE die from the infection. Culiseta melanura mosquitoes, a freshwater swamp species that primarily feeds on birds, are the primary Kevin A. Caillouet, Ph.D., M.S.P.H. vectors of EEE. Culiseta melanura are difficult to find in nature, as they rear Director their larvae in cryptic habitats in forested swamps. Adult Cs. melanura do not readily enter mosquito traps. Though most mosquitoes infected with EEE are Cs. melanura, occasionally other species may bite an infected bird and pose a more significant risk to humans. A single pool (or group) of EEE-infected Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes was collected from Fairview Riverside State Park on August 28th.
    [Show full text]
  • Guidelines for Arbovirus Surveillance Programs in the United States
    GUIDELINES FOR ARBOVIRUS SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES C.G. Moore, R.G. McLean, C.J. Mitchell, R.S. Nasci, T.F. Tsai, C.H. Calisher, A.A. Marfin, P.S. Moore, and D.J. Gubler Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases National Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Service U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Fort Collins, Colorado April, 1993 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1 Purpose of The Guidelines ........................................................... 1 General Considerations ............................................................. 1 Seasonal Dynamics ................................................................ 2 Patch Dynamics and Landscape Ecology ................................................ 2 Meteorologic Data Monitoring ........................................................ 2 Vertebrate Host Surveillance ......................................................... 3 Domestic chickens .......................................................... 4 Free-ranging wild birds ...................................................... 5 Equines .................................................................. 5 Other domestic and wild mammals ............................................. 5 Mosquito Surveillance .............................................................. 6 Human Case Surveillance ........................................................... 6 Laboratory Methods to
    [Show full text]
  • Clearing up Culex Confusion
    Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1185 Clearing up Culex Confusion A Basis for Virus Vector Discrimination in Europe JENNY C. HESSON ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS ISSN 1651-6214 ISBN 978-91-554-9044-7 UPPSALA urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-232726 2014 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Zootissalen, Villavägen 9, 2 tr, Uppsala, Friday, 7 November 2014 at 10:00 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Laura D Kramer (Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, USA). Abstract Hesson, J. C. 2014. Clearing up Culex Confusion. A Basis for Virus Vector Discrimination in Europe. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1185. 56 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9044-7. Mosquito species of the Culex genus are the enzootic vectors for several bird-associated viruses that cause disease in humans. In Europe, these viruses include Sindbis (SINV), West Nile and Usutu viruses. The morphologically similar females of Cx. torrentium and Cx. pipiens are potential vectors of these viruses, but difficulties in correctly identifying the mosquito species have caused confusion regarding their respective distribution, abundance, ecology, and consequently their importance as vectors. Species-specific knowledge from correctly identified field material is however of crucial importance since previous research shows that the relatively unknown Cx. torrentium is a far more efficient SINV vector than the widely recognized Cx. pipiens. The latter is involved in the transmission of several other viruses, but its potential importance for SINV transmission is debated.
    [Show full text]
  • Geospatial and Negative Binomial Regression Analysis of Culex
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School May 2017 Geospatial and Negative Binomial Regression Analysis of Culex nigripalpus, Culex erraticus, Coquillettidia perturbans, and Aedes vexans Counts and Precipitation and Land use Land cover Covariates in Polk County, Florida Joshua P. Wright University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Public Health Commons, and the Statistics and Probability Commons Scholar Commons Citation Wright, Joshua P., "Geospatial and Negative Binomial Regression Analysis of Culex nigripalpus, Culex erraticus, Coquillettidia perturbans, and Aedes vexans Counts and Precipitation and Land use Land cover Covariates in Polk County, Florida" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6983 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Geospatial and Negative Binomial Regression Analysis of Culex nigripalpus , Culex erraticus , Coquillettidia perturbans , and Aedes vexans Counts and Precipitation and Land use Land cover Covariates in Polk County, Florida by Joshua P. Wright A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science of Public Health Department of Global Health College of Public Health University of South Florida Major Professor: Thomas Unnasch, Ph. D. Benjamin Jacob, Ph.D Carl Boohene, Ph.D Date of Approval: April 24, 2017 Keywords: Mosquitoes, Vectors, LULC, GIS, Negative Binomial Regression Copyright © 2017, Joshua P.
    [Show full text]
  • Diptera, Culicidae) Feeding Habit at the Parque Ecológico Do Tietê, São Paulo, Brazil
    CulexCulex nigripalpus nigripalpus Theobald (Diptera, Theobald Culicidae) (Diptera, feeding habit Culicidae) at the Parque Ecológico feeding habit at the Parque663 Ecológico do Tietê, São Paulo, Brazil Gabriel Z. Laporta1, Thaís B. Crivelaro1, Elaine C. Vicentin1, Priscila Amaro2, Maria S. Branquinho2 & Maria Anice M. Sallum1 1Departamento de Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo. Avenida Dr. Arnaldo, 715, 01246-904 São Paulo-SP, Brasil. [email protected] 2Superintendência de Controle de Endemias, Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de São Paulo. ABSTRACT. Culex nigripalpus Theobald (Diptera, Culicidae) feeding habit at the Parque Ecológico do Tietê, São Paulo, Brazil. The blood feeding of a population of Cx. nigripalpus from Parque Ecológico do Tietê (PET) was investigated using an indirect ELISA protocol. Mosquitoes were captured outside houses. Five hundred sixteen engorged females collected in a reforested area and 25 in an open area were tested. Rodents and dogs were the most common blood sources, accounting for approximately 65.3% of blood meals. Human blood was detected in 10.9%, dog blood in 26.1%, chicken blood in 2.4%, and rodent blood in 39.2% of the 541 insects tested. ELISA failed in identifying the blood sources of 233 engorged females, indicating that the mosquitoes may have fed on a host which was not tested. One hundred six individuals were positive for more than one host. The unweighted human blood index was 0.14 and the rodent/human, human/chicken, and dog/rodent feeding index values were 2.70, 1.51, and 1.33, respectively. Furthermore, rodents are defensive hosts for this haematophagous insect which looks for another host to complete blood-feeding.
    [Show full text]
  • Wing Geometric Morphometrics As a Tool for the Identification of Culex
    insects Article Wing Geometric Morphometrics as a Tool for the Identification of Culex Subgenus Mosquitoes of Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) 1, 2, 3,4 Roseli França Simões y, André Barretto Bruno Wilke y , Carolina Romeiro Fernandes Chagas , Regiane Maria Tironi de Menezes 5, Lincoln Suesdek 1,6, Laura Cristina Multini 7, Fabiana Santos Silva 1,5 , Marta Gladys Grech 8, Mauro Toledo Marrelli 1,7 and Karin Kirchgatter 1,5,* 1 Institute of Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil; [email protected] (R.F.S.); [email protected] (L.S.); [email protected] (F.S.S.); [email protected] (M.T.M.) 2 Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; [email protected] 3 Institute of Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius 08412, Lithuania; [email protected] 4 Applied Research Department, Zoological Park Foundation, São Paulo, SP 04301-905, Brazil 5 Department of Specialized Laboratories, Superintendence for Endemic Disease Control, SUCEN, São Paulo, SP 01027-000, Brazil; [email protected] 6 Butantan Institute, São Paulo, SP 05503-900, Brazil 7 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 01246-904, Brazil; [email protected] 8 Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CIEMEP), CONICET and UNPSJB, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, Sede Esquel, Esquel 9200, Chubut, Argentina; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] These authors contributed equally to this work. y Received: 18 July 2020; Accepted: 21 August 2020; Published: 25 August 2020 Simple Summary: Different mosquito species have different ecology and behaviors.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2007.11052V2 [Cs.CV] 29 Jul 2020
    A Framework based on Deep Neural Networks to Extract Anatomy of Mosquitoes from Images Mona Minakshi1,*, Pratool Bharti2, Tanvir Bhuiyan1, Sherzod Kariev1, and Sriram Chellappan1,+ 1Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA 2Dept. of Computer Science, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115 USA *[email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT We design a framework based on Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN) to automatically detect and separately extract anatomical components of mosquitoes - thorax, wings, abdomen and legs from images. Our training dataset consisted of 1500 smartphone images of nine mosquito species trapped in Florida. In the proposed technique, the first step is to detect anatomical components within a mosquito image. Then, we localize and classify the extracted anatomical components, while simultaneously adding a branch in the neural network architecture to segment pixels containing only the anatomical components. Evaluation results are favorable. To evaluate generality, we test our architecture trained only with mosquito images on bumblebee images. We again reveal favorable results, particularly in extracting wings. Our techniques in this paper have practical applications in public health, taxonomy and citizen-science efforts. Introduction Mosquito-borne diseases are still major public health concerns. Across the world today, surveillance of mosquito vectors is still a manual process. Steps include trap placement, collection of specimens, and identifying each specimen one by one under a microscope to determine the genus and species. Unfortunately, this process is cognitively demanding and takes hours to complete. This is because, mosquitoes that fall into traps include both vectors, and also many that are not vectors.
    [Show full text]
  • Mosquitoes and the Disease They Transmit
    ENTO-040 3/16 Mosquitoes and the Diseases They Transmit Sonja L. Swiger, Assistant Professor and Extension Entomologist The Texas A&M University System osquitoes affect the health of people and Larva animals more than any other insect pest Figure 1. Mosquito M lifeFigure cycle, 1. including worldwide. Biting female mosquitoes transmit Egg theMosqui egg, tolarval, life many infectious agents that cause diseases such raft pupal,cycle, andincluding adult as encephalitis, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, stages.the egg, Source: larv al,Molly Zika virus, and yellow fever. Mosquito popula- Keckpupal, and adult Pupa stages.Sour ce: tions exist throughout Texas, and some species Molly Keck are known to be disease vectors (carriers). To control mosquitoes the most effectively Adult and economically, you need to: • Understand their life cycle • Be able to identify the mosquito species in At least 85 species of mosquitoes occur in your area Texas. They vary considerably in larval breed- • Know the management steps that provide ing sites, time of day when they bite, and flight the best control for different species and at distances of the adults. Table 1 summarizes this specific locations information for the most common Texas species. It can be difficult to identify some species Identifying mosquitoes of mosquitoes at the larval or adult stages. To Adult mosquitoes are small, long-legged flies determine the species in your area, send samples that have two wings. They are distinguished to an identification lab or contact a mosquito from all other flies by three characteristics: control district, university, or pest control oper- • Long, many-segmented antennae ator.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Your Skill Level?
    What is your skill level? • Beginner • No training yet • Never identified mosquitoes • Just beginning to learn to identify mosquitoes • Intermediate • Identify local species easily • Use of taxonomic keys • Would easily recognize something “new” • Advanced • Can identify all species in the region • Teaches others to identify mosquitoes • Can figure out “new” species by using a taxonomic key Mosquito Identification Skills assessment Name the three major body parts of the adult female mosquito Adult Female Mosquito Thorax Head Abdomen Mosquito Identification Skills assessment True or false: Mosquitoes have scales on their wings Non-mosquito Mosquito Identification Skills assessment Which is male? Which is female? Extra – what species? Culex nigripalpus Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory Mosquito Identification Skills assessment •What mosquito is this? Mosquito Identification Skills assessment Mosquito Identification Skills assessment On which major body part of the adult female mosquito would you find the post-spiracular setae? Classification of Mosquitoes Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Diptera Family: Culicidae Genus: Culex Species: nigripalpus Family •Culicidae •All mosquitoes are in this family •Only mosquitoes are in this family Genus (genera) - North America, North of Mexico • Aedes • Mansonia • Anopheles • Orthopodomyia • Coquillettidia • Psorophora • Culex • Toxorhynchites • Culiseta • Uranotaenia • Deinocerites • Wyeomyia How do we know we are looking at an adult mosquito? • 3 major body parts • Head,
    [Show full text]