| Prior to the outbreak of West Nile virus in 1999, regional health organizations throughout the United States had relaxed their mosquito-borne disease surveillance due to the absence of notable arboviral transmission for the last several decades. This relaxation resulted in a gap in the knowledge of the density, distribution, and bionomics of potential vectors in these areas. Even in areas where disease surveillance is active, most studies have been limited in scope in terms of the area they cover or the species they investigate. Furthermore, while it has long been studied and concluded that weather plays an essential role in the dynamics of mosquito populations, most research has failed to accurately characterize this influence. The studies described herein investigate how the environment affects the biology of mosquito vector species. Specifically, it is demonstrated that by studying a wide variety of habitats it is possible to use a mosquito's innate response to olfactory attracts to selectively target vector species for collection in Centers for Disease Control light traps. Using minor modifications to existing trapping methods by selecting different bait and height combinations, it was possible to selectively collect Culex salinarius, Aedes vexans, Anopheles bradleyi/crucians, Coquillettidia perturbans, Ochlerotatus sollicitans, and Oc. taeniorhynchus. Employing a consecutive 34 year seasonal sample of Oc. sollicitans at several sites in Maryland along with accompanying historical weather data, time dependent Poisson regression models were developed for daily mosquito light trap counts to identify associations between changes in vector abundances and environmental factors. This approach was effective in identifying not only biologically plausible meteorological conditions but their timing and duration in relation to emergence of broods and trends in Oc. sollicitans population size. Finally, using similar modeling techniques, it is shown that it might be possible to design a model for only one species at a given habitat and reasonably conclude that it will accurately portray the population dynamics of other species at the same habitat. The results from these studies fill some of the knowledge gaps which exist in our current understanding of mosquito bionomics. Moreover, they may ultimately be used to predict and avoid outbreaks of mosquito borne disease. |
