Biological characterization of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Argentina: implications for arbovirus transmission

AILEN CHUCHUY; ALEXANDER T. CIOTA; WALTER FERRARI; MARÍA V. MICIELI; MARCELA S. RODRIGUERO; LAURA D. KRAMER

Scientific Reports

Nature Publishing Group

Año: 2018

2045-2322

Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) is an invasive mosquito, native to Asia, that has expanded itsrange worldwide. It is considered to be a public health threat as it is a competent vector of viruses ofmedical importance, including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Despite its medical importance thereis almost no information on biologically important traits of Ae. albopictus in Argentina. We studied lifecycle traits, demographic parameters and analyzed the competence of this mosquito as a virus vector.In addition, we determined the prevalence of Wolbachia strains in Ae. albopictus as a first approachto investigate the potential role of this bacteria in modulating vector competence for arboviruses. Weobserved low hatch rates of eggs, which led to a negative growth rate. We found that Ae. albopictusindividuals were infected with Wolbachia in the F1 but while standard superinfection with wAlbA andwAlbB types was found in 66.7% of the females, 16.7% of the females and 62.5% of the males weresingle-infected with the wAlbB strain. Finally, despite high levels of infection and dissemination,particularly for chikungunya virus, Ae. albopictus from subtropical Argentina were found to be relativelyinefficient vectors for transmission of both chikungunya and dengue viruses.