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CASE REPORT
Year : 2022 | Volume
: 59
| Issue : 1 | Page : 102-104
First national record of Aedes melanimon (Diptera: Culicidae) in Mexico
M David Mejia-Zuniga1, Ángel G Reyes-Moya1, Janeth A Tapia-Bueno1, Laura J Moncada-Hernandez1, Aldo I Ortega-Morales2, Miguel Moreno-Garcia3, Cassandra González-Acosta4, Fabián Correa-Morales5
1 Unidad de Investigación Entomológica y Bioensayos-Servicios de Salud de Chihuahua. Paseo T. de la República 3530, Col. Partido Romero, 32330. CD. Juárez, Chihuahua, México
2 Departamento de Parasitología, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro Unidad Laguna. Periférico Raúl López Sánchez y carretera a Santa Fe, C.P. 27084, Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico
3 Unidad de Investigación Entomológica y Bioensayos-Centro Regional de Control de Vectores Panchimalco-Servicios de Salud de Morelos. Emiliano Zapata 95, C.P. 62900. Jojutla, Morelos, México
4 Servicios de Salud de Morelos. Coordinación de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vector y Zoonosis. Callejón Borda 3, Centro, C.P. 62000, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
5 Centro Nacional de Programas Preventivos y Control de Enfermedades. Benjamín Franklin 132, Escandón, C.P. 11800. Ciudad de México, México
Correspondence Address:
M David Mejia-Zuniga
Unidad de Investigación Entomológica y Bioensayos-Servicios de Salud de Chihuahua. Paseo T. de la República 3530, Col. Partido Romero, 32330. CD. Juárez, Chihuahua
México
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
CheckDOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.331418
Aedes (Ochlerotatus) melanimon Dyar 1924 has been considered an important pest in agricultural and rural communities. Aedes melanimon is a vector of WEEV and CEV and is a competent laboratory vector of WNV. The known range of Ae. melanimon extends throughout Southwest Canada, part of Central and most of Western USA. Here we report the first record of Ae. melanimon in Mexico, at Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The collect represents the southernmost distributional record for this species. Its indigenous presence in a highly urbanized and dry area was not expected. A permanent surveillance program to detect and determine the species in border-crossing cities is encouraged.
Keywords: Aedes melanimon; exotic species; Mexico; USA; vector-borne diseases
Aedes melanimon is a laboratory-confirmed vector of Western equine encephalitis virus and is a bridging mosquito vector among mammals[7],[8]. The species is also an important maintenance host and vector of California encephalitis virus[9]. It is a competent laboratory vector of West Nile virus, though, moderate transmission rates and a preference for mammalian hosts made the species a negligible secondary or bridge vector from birds to mammals[10]. The species is also susceptible to infection with Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses; however, is not a highly competent vector in the laboratory[11]. The known range of Ae. melanimon extends throughout Southwest Canada, part of Central and most of Western USA[12]. Its presence has never been reported in México or other Central America or Caribbean countries.
To update the mosquito checklist in Chihuahua, Mexico, mosquitos’ collections were conducted in August 2019. Chihuahua is located in northwestern Mexico, is bordered to the north by Texas and New Mexico, USA. It adjoins with the Mexican states of Coahuila to the east, to the west by Sonora, and the south by Durango and Sinaloa. The collecting site was near the Mexico-United States border, in the urban area of Ciudad Juárez [Figure 1]A. [Figure 2]A, [Figure 2]B. The weather is mostly dry and warm/template, temperature is around 14–18°C with an average annual precipitation of 200–300 mm (Prontuario de información geográfica municipal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, INEGI).
Figure 1: A. Chihuahua State, Mexico. B. General view of adult female of Ae. melanimon. C. Wing with dark and pale scales intermixed, and vein C mostly dark scaled. D. Abdominal tergum VII mostly dark scaled.
Figure 2: A. Collection site of Ae. melanimon in ciudad Juarez. B. Collecting points, negative (yellow dots) and positive traps (red dot) (31°39’10.5”N, 106°23’21.1”W). C., D. The area is a median income level neighborhood with single-detached dwellings and basic services, with paved roads and few green spaces. Weather conditions at collection were: 34°C, 26.4% relative humidity and 22.2 km/h wind speed.Adult mosquitoes were collected using gravid traps (BioQuip 2800AC, Santo Domingo, California, USA) with clean water and placed around the houses for a period of 24 hrs. Collected mosquitoes were transported to the laboratory for mounting and identification. All specimens were mounted on insect pins and identified using the Darsie and Ward[12] taxonomic keys. Four females and two males of Aedes melanimon Dyar, were identified. Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say mosquitoes were also collected. Specimens collected were deposited in the collection of medical importance arthropods of the Unidad de Investigación Entomológica y Bioensayos of Chihuahua under accession number CJ-10-10-19-254.
Aedes melanimon are readily recognized among species of the subgenus Ochlerotatus by the segments of hindtarsomeres with pale bands basally and apically [Figure 1]B; wing with dark and pale scales intermixed, and vein C mostly dark scaled [Figure 1]C; presence of white scales patch in postprocoxa; and abdominal terga mostly dark scaled [Figure 1]D[12]. Aedes melanimon closely resembles Ae. dorsalis (Meigen) but differs in color, wing-scale pattern, and male genitalia[13]. Adult females of Ae. melanimon can be distinguished from Ae. dorsalis by the presence of a pale-scaled dorsal band on the abdominal terga, and the wing vein C mostly dark scaled.
This is the first national record of Ae. melanimon in Mexico, and the southernmost distributional report for this species. The complete life cycle has not been observed, the ability for Ae. melanimon eggs to hatch and for adults to emerge, mate, and lay eggs remains to be determined. The species is more related to rural and northern areas; therefore, its indigenous presence in a highly urbanized and dry area is not expected [Figure 2]C, [Figure 2]D. Ciudad Juárez is the northern largest and busiest border crossing of Mexico, experiencing massive local and non-local human transit. Up to now, accidental transportation of eggs, larvae, pupae, and/or adults to the region cannot be discarded. No new specimens have been recorded in collections performed in 2020 and so far in 2021.
With the addition of Ae. melanimon to the mosquito fauna occurring in Mexico, currently there are 246 nominal species. The number of species present in Chihuahua rises to 24. The species should not be neglected in mosquito surveillance programs in Northern Mexico. Exotic vector mosquitoes have frequently been recorded around the world, presenting a risk for the introduction of new diseases. These mosquitoes represent a growing challenge for policymakers. To prevent exotic mosquitos’ invasion and further colonization, a permanent surveillance program, to detect and determine the composition of mosquito species in border crossing-cities, is encouraged.
Acknowledgements
We thank Ramón Murrieta-González, Noé G. Máruqez-Castro, and Gerónimo Arecco-López for supporting and funding the field collections in the Mexico-United States border.
References
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