UC Santa Cruz

Vector abundance plays a key role in transmission of mosquito-borne disease. In Hawaii, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), the Asian tiger mosquito, has been implicated in locally-transmitted dengue outbreaks, while Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae), the southern house mosquito, is the primary vector of avian malaria, a wildlife disease that has contributed to declines and extinctions of native Hawaiian birds. Despite the importance of these introduced species to human and wildlife health, little is known about the local-scale drivers that shape mosquito abundance across lowland Hawaii, where forest, agricultural, and residential land uses are prevalent. We examined landscape, larval habitat, and climate drivers of Ae. albopictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus abundance in eight lowland wet forest fragments on the Big Island of Hawaii. We found that the abundance of both species increased with the proportion of surrounding developed land and the availability of larval habitat, which were themselves correlated. Our findings suggest that conversion of natural habitats to residential and agricultural land increases mosquito larval habitats, increasing the abundance of Ae. albopictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus and increasing disease risk to humans and wildlife in Hawaii. Our results further indicate that while source reduction of artificial larval habitats-particularly moderately-sized human-made habitats including abandoned cars and tires-could reduce mosquito abundance, eliminating larval habitat will be challenging because both species utilize both natural and human-made larval habitats in lowland Hawaii.