Software for pattern recognition of the larvae of mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, biological vectors of dengue and yellow fever, has been developed. Rapid field identification of larva using a digital camera linked to a laptop computer equipped with this software may greatly help prevention campaigns.

Following the 2006 Chikungunya disease in La Reunion, questions were raised concerning the monitoring survey of Aedes albopictus populations and the entomological indexes used to evaluate population abundance. The objectives of the present study were to determine reliable productivity indexes using a quantitative method to improve entomological surveys and mosquito control measures on Aedes alb...

Discarded vehicle tire casings are an important artificial habitat for the developmental stages of numerous vector mosquitoes. Discarded vehicle tires degrade under ultraviolet light and leach numerous soluble metals (e.g., barium, cadmium, zinc) and organic substances (e.g., benzothiazole and its derivatives [BZTs], polyaromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]) that could affect mosquito larvae that inhab...

Phylogenetic evidence suggests that endemic and epidemic dengue viruses (DENV), transmitted among humans by the anthropophilic mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, emerged when ancestral, sylvatic DENV transmitted among nonhuman primates by sylvatic Aedes mosquitoes adapted to these peridomestic vectors. We tested this hypothesis by retrospectively examining evidence for adaptation of e...

The repellent effect of Lantana camara flowers was evaluated against Aedes mosquitoes. Lantana flower extract in coconut oil provided 94.5% protection from Aedes albopictus and Ae. aegypti. The mean protection time was 1.9 h. One application of Lantana flower can provide more than 50% protection up to 4 h against the possible bites of Aedes mosquitoes. No adverse effects of the human volunteers...

Aedes bahamensis, a species recently introduced into southern Florida represents the first member of the subgenus Howardina to be found in the United States. Its separation from all other Nearctic Aedes is the subject of this work, integrating it into the North American mosquito keys (Darsie and Ward 1981). The key revisions presented are expanded to include the other exotic species now found i...

A preliminary study on the vertical dispersal of Aedes populations in high-rise apartments was carried out in Presint 9, Putrajaya, Malaysia. Ovitraps were placed indoors within four blocks of high-rise apartments from the ground floors (0.0 - 3.0 m) until up to the tenth floors (28.1 - 30.0 m). Aedes aegypti was the dominant species found in the ovitraps (87.85%), while Aedes albopictus was fo...

BACKGROUND The chikungunya (CHIK) outbreak that struck La Reunion Island in 2005 was preceded by few human cases of Dengue (DEN), but which surprisingly did not lead to an epidemic as might have been expected in a non-immune population. Both arboviral diseases are transmitted to humans by two main mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. In the absence of the former, Ae. albopictus...

To ascertain mosquito species-specific oviposition height preferences, a study was conducted evaluating the response of field populations of container-inhabiting mosquitoes to water, oak (Quercus spp.),or oak-pine (Pinus spp.) infusion-baited ovitraps in four suburban and four sylvatic habitats in north central Florida. In total, 48 ovitraps, 24 suspended at each height of 1 or 6 m (near the gr...

The relative suitability of two colonies established from local strains of Aedes albopictus (Wilmington and Rockingham) and a local (Raleigh) and laboratory (Liverpool) strain of Ae. aegypti to support development of Dirofilaria immitis was investigated. High levels of mortality occurred 1-2 days after mosquitoes fed on a heavily microfilaremic (28,617 microfilariae/ml) dog but not when mosquit...