| Sumario: |
The assumption that vector abundance differences might drive spatial and temporal
heterogeneities in vector-borne disease transmission is common, though data supporting it is
scarce. Here, we present data from two common mosquito species Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) and
Culex quinquefasciatus Say, biweekly sampled as adults, from March 2016 through December 2017,
with BG-sentinel traps in two neighboring districts of Kaohsiung City (KC), Taiwan. One district has
historically been a dengue transmission hotspot (Sanmin), and the other a coldspot (Nanzih). We
collected a total 41,027 mosquitoes, and we found that average mosquito abundance (mean ± S.D.)
was higher in Sanmin (Ae. aegypti: 9.03 ± 1.46; Cx. quinquefasciatus: 142.57 ± 14.38) than Nanzih
(Ae. aegypti: 6.21 ± 0.47; Cx. quinquefasciatus: 63.37 ± 8.71) during the study period. In both
districts, Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus population dynamics were sensitive to changes in
temperature, the most platykurtic environmental variable at KC during the study period, a pattern
predicted by Schmalhausen’s law, which states that organisms are more sensitive to small changes
in environmental variables whose average value is more uncertain than its extremes. Our results
also suggest that differences in Ae. aegypti abundance might be responsible for spatial differences
in dengue transmission at KC. Our comparative approach, where we also observed a significant
increment in the abundance of Cx. quinquefasciatus in the dengue transmission hotspot, suggests this
area might be more likely to experience outbreaks of other vector borne diseases and should become
a primary focus for vector surveillance and control.
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