Diel activity patterns of vector mosquito species in the urban environment: Implications for vector control strategies

Abstract

Florida and Texas continue to be afflicted by mosquito-borne disease outbreaks such as dengue and West Nile virus disease and were the most affected states by the Zika outbreak of 2016-2017. Mathematical models have been widely used to study the population dynamics of mosquitoes as well as to test and validate the effectiveness of arbovirus outbreak responses and mosquito control strategies. The objective of this study is to assess the diel activity of mosquitoes in Miami-Dade, Florida and Brownsville, Texas, and to evaluate the effectiveness of simulated adulticide treatments on local mosquito populations. To assess variations in the diel activity patterns, mosquitoes were collected hourly for 96 hours once a month from May through November 2019 in Miami-Dade and Brownsville, Texas. We then performed a PERMANOVA followed by the SIMPER method to assess which species contributed the most to the observed differences. Finally, we used a mathematical model to simulate the population dynamics of 5 mosquito vector species to evaluate the effectiveness of the simulated adulticide applications. A total of 14,502 mosquitoes comprising 17 species were collected in Brownsville and 10,948 mosquitoes comprising 19 species were collected in Miami-Dade. Aedes aegypti was the most common mosquito species collected every hour in both cities and peaking in abundance in the morning and the evening. Our modeling results indicate that the effectiveness of adulticide applications varied greatly depending on the hour of the treatment. Overall, 9 PM was the best time for adulticide applications targeting all mosquito vector species in Miami-Dade and Brownsville. Our results indicate that the timing of adulticide spraying interventions should be carefully considered by local authorities based on the ecology of mosquito species in the focus area.