Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
Entomology
Non Technical Summary
Container breeding insects, such as the Asian Tiger mosquito ("ATM", Aedes albopictus) can be more than a nuisance for today's agriculture. Not only does the risk of mosquito production from tire piles on dairy farms and other animal production settings pose a liability risk but species such as the invasive ATM are dangerous potential transmitters of numerous viruses impacting animal health; including Rift Valley fever virus with potentially catastrophic implications for United States agriculture. We propose to 1) develop and conduct a citizen science-style educational program for livestock industry/animal health workers, school age children and Master Gardeners that will both educate them about Asian tiger mosquito biology and risk, but also allow them to gather critical data on mosquito breeding sites throughout its range within New York State, and 2) test a new approach for rapid surveillance of potential mosquito habitats using environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. Collectively, these objectives will enable us to understand the true range of this invasive mosquito and will support our climate modeling and mosquito control efforts in the region.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Container breeding insects, such as the Asian Tiger mosquito ("ATM", Aedes albopictus) can be more than a nuisance for today's agriculture. Not only does the risk of mosquito production from tire piles on dairy farms and other animal production settings pose a liability risk (Kaufmann et al. 2005) but species such as the invasive ATM are dangerous potential transmitters of numerous viruses impactinganimal health; including Rift Valley fever virus (OIE 2017; Turell et al 1980) with potentially catastrophic implications for United States agriculture. We propose to 1) develop and conduct a citizen science-style educational program for livestock industry/animal health workers, school age children and Master Gardeners that will both educate them about Asian tiger mosquito biology and risk, but also allow them to gather critical data on mosquito breeding sites throughout its range within New York State, and 2) test a new approach for rapid surveillance of potential mosquito habitats using environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. Collectively, these objectives will enable us tounderstand the true range of this invasive mosquito and will support our climate modeling and mosquito control efforts in the region.
Project Methods
We propose to 1) develop and conduct a citizen science-style educational program for livestock industry/animal health workers, school age children and Master Gardeners that will both educate them about Asian tiger mosquito biology and risk, but also allow them to gather critical data on mosquito breeding sites throughout its range within New York State, and 2) test a new approach for rapid surveillance of potential mosquito habitats using environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. Collectively, these objectives will enable us to understand the true range of this invasive mosquito and will support our climate modeling and mosquito control efforts in the region.1. Mapping the ATM in NYS. It is very difficult and time consuming to identify all positive containers in a community. In addition, mountingthreats from introduced viruses such as chikungunya and Zika require greater public education to minimize mosquito habitat and risk.Through a small seed NYS IPM grant 2016, we initiated a small citizen science project (TigerNET, please see previous work described above). A pilot training module was developed and presented to a group of Master Gardeners (http://blogs.cornell.edu/harrington/tigernet/). We propose to expand this program by enlisting a new group of animal health/livestock workers (including dairy business), and citizenscientists in each county throughout South and Central NY (minimum of 50 participants per focus group). In addition we will recruit scienceteachers (grades 6-9) to develop a program for school-age children. Groups will be provided with kits containing all materials and instructions to create a mosquito egg trap. Users will collect eggs and mail them to us at Cornell. All eggs will be identified to species byexamining the reticulate chorion (eggs shell) pattern and used to create a statewide occurrence map. Pre- and post- assessment surveys will measure knowledge of ATMs and suggestions for trap improvement. 2. eDNA monitoring as a new tool for natural container surveys. Little attention has been paid to the importance of natural breeding sites for the ATM. For example, tree holes may be a significant source of ATMs in NYS. If natural breeding sites are important, no matter how much control is focused on artificial containers, it may have no impact on disease transmitting adult mosquitoes. Therefore, this information is critical for developing a comprehensive ATM control strategy for New York State. We propose an alternate approach for rapid assessment that can enable us to sample natural sites. Our approach will build on the recent development of environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring (reviewed by Thomsen and Willerslev 2015) for conservation biology as a means of monitoring rare or elusive aquatic species. It involves collecting a small quantity of water from a habitat and analyzing it for the presence of DNA specific to the species of interest. Due to the sensitivity of PCR-based amplification, it is possible to detect very small amounts of DNA in large bodies of water. The assay system can allow the tester to rapidly sample from hard to reach spots and determine not just if ATMs are present in the larval habitat, but it is quantitative, allowing estimates of the number of larvae in the habitat and allowing for realistic comparisons of relative population size. We will first develop primer sets for sampling and then test the limits of detection with known numbers of ATMs in the laboratory. This work will determine the quantity of water to be sampled from tree holes. We will then aim to collect water samples for analysis from 50 minimum locations in the NYS ATM established zone as well the putative margins of infestation.