Citizen science projects have the potential to address hypotheses requiring extremely large datasets that cannot be collected with the financial and labour constraints of most scientific projects. ...Data collection by the general public could expand the scope of scientific enquiry if these data accurately capture the system under study. However, data collection inconsistencies by the untrained public may result in biased datasets that do not accurately represent the natural world. In this paper, we harness the availability of scientific and public datasets of the Lyme disease tick vector to identify and account for biases in citizen science tick collections. Estimates of tick abundance from the citizen science dataset correspond moderately with estimates from direct surveillance but exhibit consistent biases. These biases can be mitigated by including factors that may impact collector participation or effort in statistical models, which, in turn, result in more accurate estimates of tick population sizes. Accounting for collection biases within large-scale, public participation datasets could update species abundance maps and facilitate using the wealth of citizen science data to answer scientific questions at scales that are not feasible with traditional datasets.
Potential future application of engineered gene drives (GDs), which bias their own inheritance and can spread genetic modifications in wild target populations, has sparked both enthusiasm and ...concern. Engineered GDs in insects could potentially be used to address long-standing challenges in control of disease vectors, agricultural pests and invasive species, or help to rescue endangered species, and thus provide important public benefits. However, there are concerns that the deliberate environmental release of GD modified insects may pose different or new harms to animal and human health and the wider environment, and raise novel challenges for risk assessment. Risk assessors, risk managers, developers, potential applicants and other stakeholders at many levels are currently discussing whether there is a need to develop new or additional risk assessment guidance for the environmental release of GD modified organisms, including insects. Developing new or additional guidance that is useful and practical is a challenge, especially at an international level, as risk assessors, risk managers and many other stakeholders have different, often contrasting, opinions and perspectives toward the environmental release of GD modified organisms, and on the adequacy of current risk assessment frameworks for such organisms. Here, we offer recommendations to overcome some of the challenges associated with the potential future development of new or additional risk assessment guidance for GD modified insects and provide considerations on areas where further risk assessment guidance may be required.
El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la diversidad de flebotomíneos (Diptera: Psychodidae) en la zona peri-urbana de Montería, (Córdoba-Colombia). Los especímenes se colectaron en cuatro ...localidades alrededor de Montería con trampas CDC y aspiradores bucales durante febrero y junio de 2018. Los individuos se fragmentaron y aclararon con lactofenol para su posterior identificación mediante claves taxonómicas especializadas. Se estimó la diversidad con el índice de Shannon-Wiener, las localidades se compararon usando la distancia de Bray-Curtis y se cuantificó la riqueza con los índices de Chao 2 y Jacknife 2. Se identificaron seis especies: Micropygomyia cayennensis, Lutzomyia gomezi, Pintomyia rangeliana, Micropygomyia micropyga, Psathyromyia shannoni y Pintomyia evansi. Los sitios de muestreo fueron similares en cuanto a diversidad. Se concluye que la zona peri-urbana de Montería está habitada por especies generalistas de dípteros de la familia Psychodidae que constituyen un riesgo epidemiológico. La riqueza en el área se ve afectada por las características propias de las especies encontradas.
The dispersal of parasites is critical for epidemiology, and the interspecific vectoring of parasites when species share resources may play an underappreciated role in parasite dispersal. One of the ...best examples of such a situation is the shared use of flowers by pollinators, but the importance of flowers and interspecific vectoring in the dispersal of pollinator parasites is poorly understood and frequently overlooked. Here, we use an experimental approach to show that during even short foraging periods of 3 h, three bumblebee parasites and two honeybee parasites were dispersed effectively onto flowers by their hosts, and then vectored readily between flowers by non-host pollinator species. The results suggest that flowers are likely to be hotspots for the transmission of pollinator parasites and that considering potential vector, as well as host, species will be of general importance for understanding the distribution and transmission of parasites in the environment and between pollinators.
Insects and their arthropod relatives including mites, spiders, and crustaceans play major roles in the world's terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems. Arthropods compete with humans for food ...and transmit devastating diseases. They also comprise the most diverse and successful branch of metazoan evolution, with millions of extant species. Here, we describe an international effort to guide arthropod genomic efforts, from species prioritization to methodology and informatics. The 5000 arthropod genomes initiative (i5K) community met formally in 2012 to discuss a roadmap for sequencing and analyzing 5000 high-priority arthropods and is continuing this effort via pilot projects, the development of standard operating procedures, and training of students and career scientists. With university, governmental, and industry support, the i5K Consortium aspires to deliver sequences and analytical tools for each of the arthropod branches and each of the species having beneficial and negative effects on humankind.
We report the presence of Triatoma longipennis for the first time in two localities in Hidalgo, Mexico.
This study was conducted at Tecozautla municipality, Hidalgo. Collection was performed in April ...2022.
We collected eight triatomines from Guadalupe: two fourth-instar nymphs, three fifth-instar nymphs, one female, and two males. In San Miguel Caltepantla, a female was collected inside a dwelling. One sample tested positive for Trypanosoma cruzi.
These findings suggest the need to investigate the dynamics of this species with respect to the inhabitants of the study area.
De-icing road salt is a persistent emerging pollutant in temperate freshwater systems, where winter salting is necessary for road and pedestrian safety. Experts argue that road salts may increase ...salt-tolerant mosquito populations and, potentially, disease transmission in urban areas. Only adult females consume bloodmeals and may carry zoonotic diseases. While there are some species with naturally occurring male-biased sex ratios, it is unclear whether road salt differentially affects male and female mosquitoes to alter sex ratios. We hypothesized that road salts would masculinize emergence sex ratios and decrease female success because females may face higher exposure to stressors during their lengthy juvenile development compared to males. We measured mosquito emergence sex ratios of control (0 g/L added salt) and salt (4.5 g/L added salt) mesocosms in southern Ontario, Canada across the West Nile Virus season (May to October). We found female-biased sex ratios (i.e., <50% male frequency) in both 0 and 4.5 g/L. While mosquito abundance was significantly higher in 4.5 g/L compared to 0 g/L, road salt significantly increased the proportion of emerging males from 32.8% to 40.8% (Negative Binomial Model; Estimate ± SE = 0.283 ± 0.108; P = 0.009); mosquitoes shift their sex ratios from female-biased towards parity (50:50) in response to salt. Our study illustrates the need to evaluate sex-specific abundance in pollution-related mosquito population studies. By showing a shift toward more male mosquitoes emerging in high salinity compared to control treatments, our results suggest that road salts may have the potential to decrease female mosquito success and indirectly reduce disease transmission in cities.
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•Road salts run off into adjacent freshwater environments.•Urban mosquito populations display female-biased adult sex ratios.•Road salt (4.5 g/L) shifts mosquito sex ratios from 32.9% to 40.8% males.•4.5 g/L salt drives total adult mosquito abundance up by 64.5%.•Changes in sex ratios limit mosquito reproduction and disease spread.
•COI can delineate species of the Aftrotropical Atylotus genus.•Many of the Afrotropcial Atylotus records in BOLD are incorrectly identified.•The status of Atylotus fuscipes is revived to species.
...Previous studies of the horse fly genus Atylotus in the Afrotropics has shown little to no differentiation into species based on the barcoding region of cytochrome oxidase I (COI), largely due to morphological misidentifications. Using field caught specimens and a museum reference collection together with type comparisons, COI and 16S ribosomal RNA sequences were generated from two specimens of Atylotus agrestis, two A. albipalpus, four A fuscipes and one A. nigromaculatus. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences produced four separate species clades with strong support. The results showed that COI does delineate the species of Afrotropical Atylotus and that misidentifications of specimens is a common problem. Additionally, Atylotus fuscipes is revived from synonymy and given full species status. Finally, a comprehensive review of the COI barcodes, publicly available on GenBank and BOLD is included that highlights some problems with using sequences from public databases.
Both male and female ticks have a strong innate drive to find and blood-feed on hosts. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered a critical behavioral activator and attractant for ticks and an essential ...sensory cue to find hosts. Yet, how CO2 activates and promotes host seeking in ticks is poorly understood. CO2 responses were studied in the black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector for Lyme disease in North America. Adult males and females were exposed to 1%, 2%, 4% or 8% CO2, and changes in walking behavior and foreleg movement were analyzed. CO2 is a potent stimulant for adult I. scapularis, even at lower concentrations (1%). Behavioral reactions depended on the animal's state: walking ticks increased their walking speed, while stationary ticks started to wave their forelegs and began to quest - both behaviors resembling aspects of host seeking. Only in sporadic cases did stationary animals start to walk when exposed to CO2, supporting the hypothesis that CO2 acts as an activator rather than an attractant. Furthermore, I. scapularis did not show a clear concentration preference and was not tuned more robustly to breath-like CO2 concentrations (∼4%) than to the other concentrations tested. Moreover, convincing evidence is provided showing that the foreleg Haller's organ is not necessary for CO2 detection. Even with a disabled or amputated Haller's organ, I. scapularis responded robustly to CO2, signifying that there must be CO2-sensitive structures important for tick host seeking that have not yet been identified.
AN EARLY AGE EDUCATION: SCHOOL BASED VECTOR CONTROL (SBVC) USING RICE HUSK RECYCLING MEDIA IN MAWAR KINDERGARTEN, GAMBUT DISTRICT. In realizing vector-free healthy schools it needs to be improved, ...because of the increasing number of infectious diseases caused by vectors such as DHF, diarrhea, scabies, and typhoid, in students. Steps that can be taken to build a Clean and Healthy Life Behavior (PHBS) in preventing and controlling the proliferation of disease vectors is one of them with the introduction of School Based Vector Control (SBVC) in schools through the media of sticking husks on paper patterned animals that spread disease. The purpose of this research is the establishment of the SBVC model and the effectiveness of the SBVC model as an effort to increase knowledge of the introduction of diseases caused by animals spreading disease through mosaic techniques using rice husks and Madihin art performances for the preservation of the art of Banjar, South Kalimantan. This community service was conducted in Mawar Kindergarten, Gambut District with 50 students and 5 homeroom teachers from TK B. The conclusion from the implementation of community service is students and homeroom teachers know animals that spread the disease and can utilize rice husk waste as a learning media based on Ecogreen and can preserve Banjar art, namely “Madihin”.
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