The movement and dispersal of Aedes albopictus emerging at a cemetery to surrounding vegetation areas

Abstract

Cemeteries are suitable habitats for Aedes albopictus. The dispersal of adults emerging at a cemetery was studied by a mark-release-recapture experiment during the period July 11‒15, 2016 in Okayama, Japan. Larvae and pupae of Ae. albopictus were collected from artificial containers found in the cemetery, reared to the adult stage, and used for the experiment. A total of 818 females and 810 males were sprayed with a 0.5% solution of Rhodamine B and released from a release site in a vegetation area surrounding the cemetery. Recapture of released Ae. albopictus was conducted for 4 days, by human-bait sweep net collection, at 21 collection sites located in vegetation areas. The recapture rate of females and males was 19.2% and 4.3%, respectively. The longest distance travelled by female and male mosquitoes observed 1 day post release was 99 m and 231 m, respectively. The coefficient of determination indicated that the variation in the number of recaptured females among collection sites was explained 58 and 63% by the distance from release site. The flight range of Ae. albopictus was considered to be 100 to 300 m in the urban area with vegetation.