Principal source:
Compiler: IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Updates on management information with support from the Overseas Territories Environmental Programme (OTEP) project XOT603, a joint project with the Cayman Islands Government - Department of Environment
Review: Dr. Roger Eritja Spain
Publication date: 2009-10-27
Recommended citation: Global Invasive Species Database (2024) Species profile: Aedes albopictus. Downloaded from http://iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=109 on 08-12-2024.
Mosquitoes are vectors of many relevant human diseases from Malaria to filariasis (caused by Dirofilaria immitis (Naya and Knight 1999, in Eritja et al. 2005)). Ae. albopictus may be a matter of particular concern as a bridge vector for the West Nile virus because it inhabits rural areas and has a wide host range including birds, so that it can readily pass enzootic cycles to humans.
There are a total of four Flaviviruses, ten Bunyaviruses and seven Alphaviruses that Ae. albopictus is known to be receptive to in laboratory conditions. These include Yellow Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Chikungunya and Sindbis (all of which are present in the Mediterranean). Of these Ae. albopictus is known to be receptive in field conditions to three Flaviviruses (Dengue, West Nile and Japanese Encephalitis), six Bunyaviruses (Jamestown Canyon, Keystone, LaCrosse, Potosi, Cache Valley and Tensaw) and one Alphavirus (EEE). Other circulating viruses in the Mediterranean that are pathogenic to humans (but which the receptivity of Ae. albopictus has not been observed or tested in the laboratory) include Israel Turkey virus, Tahyna and Batai. However the extent to which Ae. albopictus can transmit diseases in the real world is unclear and depends on many factors including numbers, whether it bites humans, whether it takes blood meals from multiple people and how effectively the virus makes it from the mosquito’s gut to its salivary glands. Currently there is solid evidence for the tiger mosquito’s role in the transmission of only two diseases: Dengue and Chikungunya (Enserink, 2008). However, the recent outbreak Chikungunya virus in the Indian Ocean vectored by Ae. albopictus has been shown to be caused by a single nucleotide mutation in the virus that allowed it to more effectively use the tiger mosquito as a vector. Similar scenarios could happen with Dengue and other viruses that the mosquito was shown to transmit in the lab (Enserink, 2008).
Ae. albopictus has been demonstrated to have a competitive advantage over a number of other mosquito species including Ae. Aegypti (O’Meara et al. 1995; Juliano, 1998; Lounibos, 2002; Braks et al. 2004 in Vezzani and Carbajo, 2008). Ae. aegypti is an even more important vector of diseases than Ae. albopictus. This is largely because Ae. albopictus has such as wide host range compared to Ae. aegypti which feeds almost exclusively on humans (Enserink, 2008). Because diseases like Dengue affect only primates, if Ae. albopictus feeds on a lizard or bird after a human, the disease is not transmitted. Thus the actual consequence of the potential displacement of Ae. aegypti by Ae. albopictus in terms of diseases transmission remains unknown in many regions. Professor Gubler predicts that the spread of Ae. albopictus will actually result in a net gain for public health because in many places, it is displacing Ae. aegypti populations (Enserink, 2008). Indeed there are many studies that report Ae. albopictus outcompeting mosquito larvae of other species such as Ochlerotatus triseriatus, a vector for La Crosse Virus (Bevins, 2008) and Ae. japonicas (Armistead et al. 2008). However Didier Fontenille of the Institute of Research for Development in Montpellier, France disagrees with Gubler citing outbreaks of Chikungunya in the Indian Ocean Islands, La Reunion island and Italy as evidence of the tiger mosquito’s potential devastating impacts (Enserink, 2008).
Physical Control: Ae. albopictus is not readily captured by most traps, even those that catch other mosquito species. However, recently there are new traps being developed: BG-SentinelTM and the Collapsible Mosquito Trap (CMT-20TM). These traps use ammonia, fatty acids and lactic acids to produce a smell similar to that of a human body in an upward air current. The addition of carbon dioxide greatly improves the number of mosquitoes captured. When carbon dioxide is added these traps collect about 33 times more than standard light traps (Meeraus et al. 2008).
Biological Control: Bioengineering is a major focus of research in agricultural and public health entomology. Oxford Insect Technologies (http://www.oxitec.com/) have created a strain of Ae. aegypti with a dominant tetracycline-repressible gene. The aim is to release transgenic males in the field; the progeny of matings with wild females will die. Ultimately we will select a sex-linked strain that will kill only female progeny, providing a “driver” for the lethal gene in the field. Current research is studying the ‘fitness’ of such transgenic strains and will also attempt to engineer strains of Ae. albopictus (Insects and Infectious Diseases, 2006).
Another form of biological control that is currently being investigated is use of an entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisoplia. Results from laboratory studies showed that longevity of M. anisopliae-infected Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus is significantly lower than that of uninfected mosquitoes. The challenge is to find and apply an effective methodology that will result in reduced vectorial capacity of mosquitoes in the field (Scholte et al. 2008).
Integrated Management: In Switzerland, monitoring systems consisted of over 300 strategically positioned oviposition traps along main traffic axes, including parking lots within industrial complexes, border crossings and shopping centres.. Bi-weekly control visits to all traps were conducted between April and November 2007. As soon as eggs were detected, the surrounding vegetation within a perimeter of about 100 metres was sprayed with permethrin against adult mosquitoes. Stagnant water was treated with Bacillus thuringiensis and in some cases with diflubenzuron to control the larval stages (Wymann et al. 2008).