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Active dispersion, habitat requirements and human biting behaviour of the invasive mosquito Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald, 1901) in Hungary

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Abstract

Aedes japonicus japonicus is endemic in a number of countries in eastern Asia but has been accidently introduced into many regions of the world including Europe. It was first detected in Hungary in 2012. In 2017, robust populations of the species were found at Lake Balaton, one of the most important tourist destinations in Central Europe. Based on the experience gathered in the above localities, habitat requirements, dispersion abilities and human biting behaviour of the species were studied in western Hungary during 2017 and 2018. Our results show that (a) a few years after its detection at the Slovenian-Hungarian border, Ae. j. japonicus is widespread in at least two-thirds of the western half of Hungary; (b) the species spreads quickly in ecological corridors formed by mosaics of rural areas, detached houses, gardens and small forest patches; (c) Ae. j. japonicus occupies artificial containers; (d) expansion of the species into new areas is slowed by extensive closed forest patches.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their huge gratitude to Sándor Tóth for his help in planning of the study and in identification of some of the specimens. Our thanks go to Zoltán Soltész for allowing the first author to examine the mosquito collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum.

Special thanks go to the working network, whose dedication ensured that larval collections were widespread and extensive—Judit Bajzáth (Mány), Zsolt Bernáth (Cserszegtomaj), snr. Zoltán Kenyeres (Tapolca), Előd Kondorosy (Cserszegtomaj), Péter Kovács (Mecsér), Szilvia Kovács (Felsőpáhok), András Márkus (Pécs), Péter Sári-Kovács (Hidegkút), Tamás Sáringer-Kenyeres (Keszthely), Béla Takács (Tömörd), Imre Tanai (Csabrendek), Sándor Tóth (Zirc).

We thank reviewers of earlier versions of the manuscript for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Our great thanks go to David Hunter, president of the Orthopterists’ Society, for his help in linguistic and stylistic issues of the manuscript.

Funding

The publication was supported by the EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00008 project (co-financed by the European Union and the European Social Fund).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Sciences, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, Deák Ferenc u. 16, Keszthely, 8360, Hungary

    Marcell Sáringer-Kenyeres

  2. Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Könyves K. krt. 40, Budapest, 1087, Hungary

    Norbert Bauer

  3. Acrida Conservational Research L.P, Deák F. u. 7, Tapolca, 8300, Hungary

    Zoltán Kenyeres

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  1. Marcell Sáringer-Kenyeres
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  3. Zoltán Kenyeres
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Correspondence to Zoltán Kenyeres.

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Studies were carried out with approval of the household authorities.

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Human landing collections were carried out by the authors, using themselves as attractors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Sáringer-Kenyeres, M., Bauer, N. & Kenyeres, Z. Active dispersion, habitat requirements and human biting behaviour of the invasive mosquito Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald, 1901) in Hungary. Parasitol Res 119, 403–410 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06582-6

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