Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) The invasive Ae. aegypti was probably introduced in the 16th century (Lounibos, 2002). It breeds in artificial containers and feeds mainly on human blood and is therefore mainly found close to habitation (Harrington et al., 2001). It is the main vector for a number of arboviruses in the Caribbean causing dengue, chikungunya and Zika (Leslie et al., 2014, 2017). As expected, we found Ae. aegypti present in urban habitats on all three islands. We also found Ae. aegypti in high densities in two remote old wells on Sint Eustatius (Venus Bay Road, 17°30’17.8“ N, 62°58’59.4” W; Smoke Alley [near Fort Rotterdam], 17°29’13.1“ N, 62°59’36.0” W). One of these wells had a relatively high salinity of 7 ‰, which has been shown to be well within the tolerance range of Ae. aegypti (De Brito Arduino et al., 2015). Verdonschot and Besse-Lototskaya (2014) concluded from a meta-analysis of 62 dispersal studies that Ae. aegypti can cover maximally distances of 2.5 km (mean = 333 m). Reiter et al. (1995) reported that furthest Ae. aegypti post-blood meal flight was 441 m (mean = 181 m). In a 200 m radius around the wells, only one or two residences are present, whereas goats were extremely abundant on this part of this island. The fact that post-blood meal flights over 200 m are exceptional and densities of adult mosquitoes at both sites were exceptionally high suggests that Ae. aegypti at these localities may be partly feeding on nonhuman hosts. Other studies have shown that the percentage of Ae. aegypti that were bloodfed on humans varies from 76.2 % in rural Puerto Rico (Barrera et al., 2012), where other hosts were mainly dogs, but also on cats, horses, and chickens, to 99.1 % in Thailand (Ponlawat & Harrington, 2005). On Sint Eustatius, goats and sheep are very abundant at these sites. However, further research is needed to examine the origin of the blood meals.

Published as part of Cooper, David, Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki, Macdonald, David, Nanova, Olga, Yudin, Viktor, Dugmore, Andrew & Kitchener, Andrew, 2020, Taxonomy, ecology and distribution of the mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of the Dutch Leeward Islands, with a key to the adults and fourth instar larvae, pp. 373-392 in Contributions to Zoology 89 (1) on page 381, DOI: 10.1163/18759866-bja10005, http://zenodo.org/record/8343373