Aedes vittatus Bigot is distributed throughout Africa, tropical Asia, and southern Europe and occurs in sylvatic as well as peridomestic environments where it readily feeds on humans. Although the vectorial capacity of Ae. vittatus is not well understood, this species is known to play a role in the maintenance and transmission of yellow fever, Zika, chikungunya, and dengue virus within its native range. In October 2019, after a routine inspection of mosquito-breeding containers in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, two Ae. vittatus females were captured via human landing catch method. After this finding, a CDC miniature light trap was deployed at the point of initial detection from 18:00 to 08:00 h, 2 d/wk from 3 to 31 October 2019. Potential larval habitats were also sampled via traditional dip method once per week spanning a 150 m radius from point of initial detection. In addition to the 2 adult females, 10 female and 2 male Ae. vittatus were captured. One Ae. vittatus larva also was found in a small puddle formed by an animal hoof print. Conventional PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to confirm morphological identification of collected specimens. This is the first detection of Ae. vittatus in the Dominican Republic as well as the Americas. Therefore, enhanced surveillance is needed to better understand the range and public health risks this potential invasive mosquito species may pose in the Dominican Republic, other Caribbean Islands, and/or the Americas.

Introduction: Discarded vehicle tires represent a serious threat both to the environment and to public health as they have the potential to harbor important mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) vectors.Objective: To assess the importance of used vehicle tires as larval habitats for mosquito fauna that colonize these artificial reservoirs in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.Materials and methods: Used tires were sampled with pipettes at specialized tire fitting shops and scattered stockpiles of tires between June and August, 2018.Results: We sampled 396 tires; 57 (Container Index=14.4%) were positive for immature stages and contained 2,400 specimens, 11 species, and four genera (Anopheles, Aedes, Culex, and Toxorhynchites). The most abundant species was Aedes albopictus (42.3%) followed by Aedes aegypti (34.3%), and Culex quinquefasciatus (14.0%) while other species (9.4%) were less abundant. The container index varied significantly among the different tire sizes (χ2=13.4; p≤0.05). The highest infestation levels were found in the largest tires. A low positive correlation (r=0.38, n=396; p≤0.001) between the tire size and the prevalence of immature stages was recorded. The presence of organic matter had an overall positive effect on the infestation levels (U=11,430.0; p≤0.001).Conclusions: These rubber residues, usually located nearby human populations, represent suitable breeding sites for arboviruses vectors such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and West Nile.

Culex (Culex) garciai fue descrita por primera vez por González Broche (2000) a partir de ejemplares recolectados en las provincias cubanas orientales de Granma y Santiago de Cuba, a una altitud entre 120 y 620 msnm, respectivamente. Algunos años después, fue localizada también en la provincia de La Habana, a 65 msnm. En el presente estudio, se muestran los primeros hallazgos de esta especie para La Española, donde se ha localizado en entornos agrestes del municipio de Jarabacoa, provincia de La Vega, República Dominicana, a una altitud entre los 528 y 657 msnm. Los estados preimaginales fueron encontrados en hábitats naturales y artificiales, como huecos excavados en las rocas, troncos de bambú, charcos de agua de lluvia y en contenedores artificiales. Culex (Culex) garciai was first described by González Broche (2000) from specimens collected in the eastern Cuban provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba, between 120 and 620 MASL, respectively. Later, the species was also found in the province of Havana above 65 MASL. In this study, the first records of this species from Hispaniola are given. Cx. garciai has been located in a mountainous rural area in the municipality of Jarabacoa, Province of La Vega, Dominican Republic, between 528 and 657 MASL. Immature stages have been found in natural and artificial habitats, such as rocks pools, bamboo trunks, temporary rainwater puddles and artificial containers.

El presente estudio registra por primera vez a la especie Uranotaenia cooki (Diptera: Culicidae) en República Dominicana, concretamente en el municipio de Jarabacoa. Con este hallazgo, el culícido se encuentra oficialmente presente en todos los países que conforman las Antillas Mayores.

No abstract

Mosquito-borne diseases are a major public health concern in the Caribbean. Domestic water-storage containers are preferred breeding habitats for synanthropic mosquito species, among which Aedes aegypti stands out due to its role in arbovirus transmission. To determine the microenvironmental features associated with container-dwelling mosquitoes, a house-to-house cross-sectional entomological survey was carried out in 9 Dominican provinces affected by Zika virus in 2016. All containers with the potential to store water were sampled, all immature mosquitoes were collected, and information on the type, capacity, volume of stored water, building material, presence of flowers, and house location was documented. The specimens were identified and larval indices (House index [HI], Container index [CI], Breteau index [BI], and Ae. aegypti Breeding Percentage) were applied. A total of 665 dwellings were surveyed across 30 neighborhoods. A total of 1,420 water-filled container habitats were sampled, 19.3% of which harbored immature mosquitoes of 5 species, including 4 important vectors. The dominance of Ae. aegypti was marked, as it was present in all sampled neighborhoods, inhabiting 272 containers (19.1%). Larval indices were higher than the threshold values accepted (5% for the HI and BI, and 3% for the CI) in almost all neighborhoods. The presence of Aedes spp. was associated with the serviceability of water-holding containers (χ2 = 16.56522; P < 0.001), and the difference in volume between water-holding containers was associated with the presence of Aedes spp. infection (χ2 = 4; P < 0.001), the containers up to 5 liters being the most infested. This is the first entomological research based on synanthropic mosquito breeding habitats that cover urban areas of the 3 macro-regions of the Dominican Republic.

Entre las especies de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) sinantrópicos que existen en la región de las Américas, tres desempeñan un papel protagónico en la transmisión de enfermedades de importancia médica en países de bajos y medios ingresos (LMIC): Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus y Culex quinquefasciatus. Con el objetivo de caracterizar la infestación domiciliar de estos mosquitos, se realizó un estudio entomológico en el municipio de Jutiapa (Guatemala) y Jarabacoa (República Dominicana), ambos incluidos dentro de la clasificación de LMIC. En cada municipio se muestrearon 100 viviendas seleccionadas aleatoriamente; en cada criadero se capturó la mayor cantidad posible de larvas y/o pupas con la ayuda de pipetas Pasteur, bandejas plásticas y botes herméticos. El porcentaje de depósitos con agua infestados por alguna de las especies de culícidos estudiada fue similar en ambos municipios (Jutiapa = 27.9 %, Jarabacoa = 20.0 %); entre estos predominaron los ubicados en el peri-domicilio (Jutiapa = 76.3 %, Jarabacoa = 93.7 %) en depósitos permanentes y útiles (Jutiapa = 79.6 %, Jarabacoa = 56.9 %). De forma general, Ae. aegypti fue la especie que más depósitos colonizó (Jutiapa = 92, Jarabacoa = 84), en cohabitación o no con otras especies. Los resultados refuerzan la necesidad de desarrollar estrategias de comunicación y participación comunitaria contextualizadas a las características de cada territorio y especie, así como direccionar los esfuerzos hacia el control doméstico, teniendo en cuenta sus contribuciones a la efectividad y sostenibilidad del manejo integrado de culícidos en estos y otros municipios con características similares.

Haematophagous insects cause major economic losses by both direct damage and the transmission of pathogens. However, the biting Diptera species in the Caribbean region have been poorly documented. During 2021, CDC downdraft suction traps with UV light were employed to assess both the species occurrence and blood meal sources across three different habitats in the Dominican Republic. Eighteen species of mosquitoes (n = 274), six species of Culicoides (n = 803), two black fly species (n = 2), and one species of muscid fly (n = 25) were identified at species-level by morphology and/or molecular phylogenetic approaches based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI). Engorged mosquito (n = 5) and Culicoides (n = 28) females showed host preferences derived exclusively from mammals (cows and pigs), except Culex species containing the blood of chickens. Our study provides new records of the Diptera Dominican catalogue (Culex salinarius for the Greater Antilles, Culicoides jamaicensis for Hispaniola, and Culicoides haitiensis and Culicoides borinqueni for the Dominican Republic), the first available COI DNA sequences of different Diptera in the GenBank, some pictures of diagnostic features of closely related specimens, spatial distribution across the habitats studied, and new insights on their feeding preferences in the Caribbean region.