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First record of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in San Luis Potosi, Mexico

2016; Wiley; Volume: 41; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/jvec.12229

1948-7134

Aldo I. Ortega‐Morales, Quetzaly K. Siller Rodríguez,

Malaria Research and Control

With the recent introduction into Mexico of chikungunya and Zika viruses in the years 2014 and 2015, respectively, the programs for entomological surveillance of vector-borne diseases, specifically mosquito-borne diseases, have been intensified in all Mexican states. Public health officials survey the presence of Aedes aegypti, the main vector of arboviruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika in urban and suburban areas of the country. However, the sylvan and rural areas are poorly sampled, thus the presence of Ae. albopictus and other mosquitoes species is not surveyed accordingly. Ae. albopictus develops in the tropical forest, sylvan, rural, and suburban regions of Mexico (Ponce et al. 2004). The first records of Aedes albopictus in the northeastern states of Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragaoza, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas) and the border with the United States were made just a few years after the species was recorded for the first time in North America (Sperenger and Wuithiranyagool 1986). In 1988, Ae. albopictus was collected for the first time in Mexico in the United States border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state (Francy et al. 1990). Later, immature stages were collected in Ciudad Acuña and Piedras Negras, both cities bordering the United States in Coahuila de Zaragoza state (Ibáñez and Martínez 1994), and in Nuevo Leon state, the species was collected for the first time in the city of Allende by public health surveillance officials (Pesina et al. 2001). In southern Mexico, Ae. albopictus was recorded for the first time in 1997 in the city of Martinez de la Torre, in Veracruz state (Flisser et al. 2002). Presumably, the species spread south from Tamaulipas throughout northern Veracruz through the Sierra Madre Oriental and/or the North Gulf Coastal Plains. A second invasion of the species was recorded in the Guatemala border city of Tapachula, in Chiapas state (Casas and Torres 2003). Immature stages of Ae. albopictus were collected in the city of Cancun in Quintana Roo state in the Yucatán Peninsula (Salomon et al. 2012). In the middle of Mexico, Ae. albopictus was recorded in association with a number of other species in 2009 in the cities of Jojutla and Cuautla above 1,000 m.a.s.l. in Morelos state (Villegas et al. 2010). Finally, the species was recorded in northwest Mexico in the city of Culiacan in Sinaloa state (Torres et al. 2015). During our mosquito surveys in different Mexican states, collection trips were conducted in the county of Aquismon in San Luis Potosi state during 2012–2013, and in both years we found Ae. albopictus in different sub-physiographical regions of the state (low mountain and tropical regions of the Sierra Madre Oriental) (Table 1). The presence of Ae. albopictus in San Luis Potosi state is recorded for the first time. We recommend future surveillance in all sub-regions of the Sierra Madre Oriental, including San Luis Potosi state, which would document the spreading and distribution of this species in the state. We thank Adelfo Sánchez, Félix Ordóñez, and Robinzon Lopez for their valuable assistance in the collection trips, the "Sótano de las Golondrinas" guide personnel for their valuable guide service into the tropical jungle, and Luis Hernández Triana for reviewing the manuscript. This study was supported by grant "Ciencia Básica SEP-CONACyT: The Mosquitoes of the Neo-volcanic Axis of some states of Mexico."