The effects of an urban heat island on the population performance and larval development of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus)

Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is an invasive vector of the central and southeastern United States, capable of transmitting many anthropogenic and zoonotic diseases. While it is known that their development is influenced by temperature, little applied research of this effect along thermal gradients has been performed. As urbanization increases, more and more locations are experiencing the climatological phenomenon of urban heat islands. These heat islands result in higher temperatures centered in urban areas and can also expand out to suburban areas to a lesser extent. This study plans to examine the impact of these urban heat islands on larval development and population performance of A. albopictus in Oklahoma City (OKC), Oklahoma. The downtown, central business district of OKC has a well-documented heat island that has been tracked by the OKC micronet, a scaled down mesonet climatological data collecting system. Population performance of A. albopictus will be examined by looking at the wing length and weight of mosquitoes raised either solitarily or with twenty intraspecific cohorts in an enclosed container placed in an urban environment. Replicates will also be placed in suburban and rural environments to record the temperature variance between the different environments and its impacts on larval growth and developmental rate from hatch to eclosion. Data presented from this study should help to expose the influence of urban heat islands and man-made climate change on vector populations and lead to future research endeavors in this area.