Sanz-Aguilar, A., Rosselló, R, Bengoa, M, Ruiz-Pérez, M., Barceló, C., Borrás, D., Paredes-Esquivel, C., Miranda, M.-A. and Tavecchia, G., 2018. Water associated with residential areas and tourist resorts is the key predictor of Asian tiger mosquito presence on a Mediterranean island. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/mve.12317
Abstract: The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae), is a highly invasive species and a vector of several viruses
of serious concern to public health. Investigating the habitat selection of this species
at small to medium scales is essential to the planning of effective prevention and
control campaigns.
The present group considered detailed data for this species' presence/absence
collected at 228 sites on Mallorca Island (Spain) in autumn 2015, 3 years after the
first detection of the species on the island. Site occupancy models accounting for
false negative detections and imperfect monitoring were used to evaluate the relationships
between mosquito presence and habitat variables. In the study area, mosquito presence
was negatively associated with altitude, probably as a result of greater human presence
at low altitudes near the coast.
Moreover, the presence of Ae. albopictus was positively associated with swimming pools as a result of associated gardens,
plants and sources of fresh water. These two variables were combined to predict the
presence of the species across the entire island.
The publication has been noticed by many journals. You can find a press release in Spanish and the list of the other notes here
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