Establishment of the Invasive Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in the West Valley Area of San Bernardino County, CA

Abstract

The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762), is the most aggressive invasive mosquito species with worldwide distribution. In addition to being a notorious nuisance species, it can pose significant public health concern because of its ability to transmit various viral pathogens. The first adult capture in the West Valley area of San Bernardino County, CA, occurred in September 2015 in Montclair. A strategic surveillance plan was implemented accordingly by the West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District to document the infestation. The Biogent Sentinel (BG-2) trap augmented with BG-Lure and carbon dioxide (CO2) was deployed as a routine surveillance tool during 2017-2019. Extensive trapping revealed an expanding infestation, when positive trap nights (TN) increased from 14.2% in 2017 to 23.9% in 2018 and 55.6% in 2019. The average counts/TN increased from 0.65 in 2017 and 0.90 in 2018 to 3.83 in 2019. The cities of Montclair, Chino, and Ontario had much higher infestation than other cities in the district with the highest positive TN of 46.0% in Montclair, and highest average trap count of 3.23/TN in Chino. It was interesting to note that males coincided with females with more profound trend during warmer months of July to October when ratios of males ranged 28.4-35.0%. The BG-2 trap significantly outperformed the CO2 trap and gravid trap. The establishment of this invasive species in semiarid inland Southern California was further confirmed by concurrent larval collections.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Biogent Sentinel trap; Culicidae; Diptera; establishment.