Spread of Aedes albopictus and decline of Ae. aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in Florida.By O'Meara GF, Evans LF Jr, Gettman AD, Cuda JP.
O'Meara GF, Evans LF Jr, Gettman AD, Cuda JP. 1995. Spread of Aedes albopictus
and decline of Ae. aegypti
(Diptera: Culicidae) in Florida. Journal of Medical Entomology 32(4): 554-562.
Waste tires and other types of artificial containers were sampled for immature Aedes
to monitor changes in the occurrence of Aedes aegypti
(L.) and Aedes albopictus
(Skuse) in Florida. The initial invasion and spread of Ae. albopictus
in Florida occurred in the northern part of Florida. Throughout this region, major declines in the abundance of Ae. aegypti
have been associated with the expansion of Ae. albopictus
in both urban and rural areas. Generally, the same results have occurred in central Florida, but at some urban locations Ae. aegypti
has remained a common mosquito long after the arrival of Ae. albopictus
. In southeastern Florida, Ae. aegypti
is currently the dominant container-inhabiting Aedes
in urban areas, whereas sites dominated by Ae. albopictus
are in rural settings or in undeveloped tracts of land within urban or suburban areas. At some locations, immature Ae. albopictus
were found in the same containers with another exotic mosquito, Ae. bahamensis
Berlin. The persistence of thriving Ae. aegypti
populations in urban areas of southern Florida indicates that Ae. albopictus
might not become the dominant container Aedes
in these habitats, at least not to the extent that it has in the northern part of the state.