Mosquitoes

Introduced mosquito-borne avian diseases, avian pox and avian malaria, are key limiting factors for endemic Hawaiian forest birds and are, in part, likely responsible for past extinctions and the continued decline of extant species populations. In the last 40 years on the island of Kaua‘i a number of species have become increasingly rare and several are now presumed extinct. Coinciding with these...

Invasive species often pose the primary threat to biodiversity in the Pacific. USGS research focuses on the ecology, reducing impacts, and controlling highly invasive insect species. For example, USGS scientists are assessing novel mosquito control tools (e.g., bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia). Mosquitoes carry diseases that affect people (e.g., West Nile virus, dengue); therefore, the benefits...

Six species of biting mosquitoes have been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands since Western contact, two of which are vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Environmental conditions favorable for the transmission of dengue and Zika occur year-long across Hawai‘i’s coastline. To better understand the ecology of vector mosquitoes and support public health efforts, mosquito monitoring at...