First record and morphological characterization of an established population of Aedes (Hulecoeteomyia) koreicus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Germany

Abstract

BackgroundThe East Asian mosquito species Aedes koreicus was recorded out of its native range for the first time in Belgium in 2008. Since then, several other European populations or single individuals have been observed throughout Europe with reports from Italy, Switzerland, European Russia, Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. The Italian population seems to be the only one that is expanding rapidly, so the Swiss population very likely derives from it.ResultsIn a surveillance program for invasive mosquito species, a single larva of Ae. koreicus was found in a cemetery vase in 2016 in the city of Wiesbaden, Germany. In the following year the finding was confirmed and an established population could be proven over an area of about 50 km2. The morphological identification of the first larva was confirmed by sequencing of a region within the nad4 sequence. A study of adult females showed that the morphological characteristics of this population are not identical to the populations from Belgium and Italy. The eggs and larvae were found together with Aedes j. japonicus in the same breeding sites and ovitraps, as well as with other indigenous mosquito species such as Culex pipiens/Culex torrentium, Aedes geniculatus and Anopheles plumbeus.ConclusionsSince the newly discovered population in Germany shows different morphological characteristics to the populations in Belgium and Italy, it seems to originate from an independent introduction. It remains unknown how the introduction took place. A further spread similar to the one in northern Italy can be assumed for the future due to similar climatic conditions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-3199-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Surveillance of invasive Aedes mosquitoes along Swiss traffic axes reveals different dispersal modes for Aedes albopictus and Ae. japonicus

“…Moreover, Ae. koreicus has also been repeatedly reported from Germany [30,62,63] and more recently from Austria [44]. Like the closely related Ae.…”

“…albopictus, two other invasive Aedes species, originating from East Asia, have previously been reported from Switzerland; Ae. japonicus japonicus (Theobald, 1901), the Asian or Japanese bush mosquito [30], hereafter called Ae. japonicus, and Ae.…”

“…Today, Ae. koreicus is present in at least seven European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland [30,[40][41][42][44][45][46].…”

Dynamics and Distribution of the Invasive Mosquito Aedes koreicus in a Temperate European City

“…In particular, Aedes species are of greater concern due to their competence as vectors of several pathogens such as, for instance, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses [2]. Improvement in surveillance systems allows better detection of the introduction of invasive Aedes species [3][4][5][6]. However, in the face of the new challenges posed by global environmental change and insecticide resistance, there is the need to develop a novel approach to mosquito control based on the One Health perspective rather than the insecticide-only approach [7,8].…”

Preliminary report of knockdown resistance in Culex pipiens pallens and Aedes koreicus from Korea

“…Aedes koreicus, which is found throughout Korea (KCDC 2018), was first reported by Edwards in 1917(Edwards 1917. It has been found in many European countries since the late 2000s (Versteirt et al 2012;Capelli et al 2011;Pfitzner et al 2018).…”