https://doi.org/10.4081/jear.2020.8968

Checklist of the mosquito species from four Sicilian Islands: Lampedusa, Linosa, Ustica and Pantelleria

Vol. 52 No. 1 (2020)
Submitted: 16 March 2020
Accepted: 2 July 2020
Published: 30 November 2020
mosquito distribution, Italy, minor islands, Sicily, vectors
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Authors

L. Toma
luciano.toma@iss.it
Infectious Diseases Department, Vector-borne Diseases Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
F. Severini
Infectious Diseases Department, Vector-borne Diseases Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
R. Romi
Amateur Entomologist, Rome, Italy.
M. Goffredo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’, Teramo, Italy.
A. Torina
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia ‘A. Mirri’, Palermo, Italy.
M. Di Luca
Infectious Diseases Department, Vector-borne Diseases Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.

The present study reports the results of the first survey of mosquito species in four of the minor Sicilian Islands, namely Lampedusa, Linosa, Pantelleria and Ustica. These surveys were carried out during field activities aimed at recording the occurrence of Aedes albopictus, now reported in all these territories. Adult mosquitoes were collected by traps or by handheld electric aspirators. Larval collections were performed using dippers and droppers. Samples were morphologically identified and molecular investigations were carried out when needed. A total of 6 species were found, namely Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus, Culex (Culex) pipiens, Culex (Culex) laticinctus, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) mariae, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) zammitii, and Culiseta (Allotheobaldia) longiareolata, the first 2 of which are already a known health concern. This checklist of mosquito species shows the widespread occurrence of Culex laticinctus whose distribution in Italy has still not been thoroughly investigated, whose ecology is poorly known and whose competence as a vector of pathogens is unknown. In Pantelleria, we found larvae of an Aedes species worthy of further investigation.

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L. Toma, Infectious Diseases Department, Vector-borne Diseases Unit, National Institute of Health, Rome

researcher PhD

How to Cite

Toma, L., Severini, F., Romi, R., Goffredo, M., Torina, A., & Di Luca, M. (2020). Checklist of the mosquito species from four Sicilian Islands: Lampedusa, Linosa, Ustica and Pantelleria. Journal of Entomological and Acarological Research, 52(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jear.2020.8968
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