Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Opening- John Beier, Professor of Public Health Services, University of Miami: Zika Outbreak and Control in Miami. A discussion of public perception of using organophosphates (Naled) to avoid resistance.

Fonseca discussed her work on adult learning for the purpose of mosquito safety education.

The group then discussed matters of concerned protesters in Puerto Rico and south Florida.

George Deskins of the Citrus County Mosquito Control District discussed some problems public perception that he had encountered.

Phil Armstrong then brought up the fact that attendance was very low this year, and that he understood that people were likely busy with Zika-related issues. The group also then discussed the four new CDC Centers of Excellence, and that it was good news because many members of NE1443 were involved.

Ted Andreadis then gave a history of this multi-state project and also explained the recent changes in leader in Washington, D.C., and the fiscal outlook for FY 2018. He said there was a potential for a 20% increase in Hatch Act funding. He also pointed out that there were 28 members assigned to this multi-state with only a handful present, and that greater participation was needed in the future.

The Northeast CDC Center at Cornell was discussed.

There was a long discussion of how regional multi-state projects could collaborate with some of these large, new research centers.

There were member introductions.

Objective 1: Development of parasitic and arthropod catalogue/resources. James Becnel gave an update on colony source information and expressed a need for identifying groups that might have new mosquito colonies that would be of interest to those working in toxicology or mosquito genetics. Dipteran cell line sources were listed. Jiannong Xu said that he was also starting a repository of mosquito-associated bacteria which could be added to this objective. A long discussion then followed about interfacing the resources produced from this aim with those already available from BEI Resources. This objective was then concluded with a short discussion on the differences in permit requirements for intrastate and interstate transport and import of vector arthropods.

Action Items: 1) decide upon a database program to use, 2) establish a curation committee, 3) compile shipping/regulatory information and 4) work towards a publication.
 

Objective 2:  Integrated tick management and community-centered approaches, including understanding the biology and ecology of novel and emerging tick-borne pathogens. – No one was present on this objective, so Phil Armstrong took over. He discussed Powassan virus and Lyme disease in Connecticut and reported that he had found a surprisingly high prevalence for Powassan virus in the regional Ixodes. RNAi tick response against viruses was also discussed. Jonas King and Dina Fonseca then discussed two smaller tick-related projects relating to the Rocky Mountain spotted fever vectors Dermacentor and Amblyomma.

Phil Armstrong and Lisa Conti then discussed the importance of coinfection in ticks, as well as the importance of veterinarians in tick surveillance.

 Action Items: 1) increased surveillance of environmental risk, 2) importance of coinfection and 3) the IPM of ticks

Objective 3: Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, with a focus on surveillance, range, expansion, ecology, genetics, climate change and disease risk. Phil Armstrong discussed albopictus range map discrepancies and that the range was often overestimated. He also discussed his own work on Aedes albopictus range in the northeastern U.S. as it compared to the work of Rochlin et al. (2013), the main point was the potential of a 5° isotherm as the northern border of their range. There was then a discussion involving Dina, Phil and Ted on using genetics to distinguish overwintering Aedes versus reintroduced Aedes.

James Becnel and Alden Estep led a discussion on pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti in Florida.

Action Items: None identified

Objective 4: New control tools, including socio-ecological approaches. Dina Fonseca presented her result from her recent research on community mosquito control in University Park, Maryland. The focus of this research was a door-to-door effort to encourage Aedes albopictus surveillance and the efficacy of such a program. For this work she used GAT traps which combine lethal oviposition and surveillance.

Action Items: None identified

Objective 5: Training and training tools.  No one was present. We discussed that Paul Leisnham had teaching modules online, and that Phil Armstrong could get us these links.

Action Items: None identified

Group discussions on potential funding sources and development of prospective collaborative proposals.

There was another discussion on where the meeting should be held next year in order to increase attendance.

Closing: Philip Armstrong continued as Chair of NE1443 for 2016-2017. Jonas King volunteers will continue as secretary for the next year.

Meeting adjourned at 5 pm.

Objective 1: The aim of this project is to support and promote available resources such as the BEI Resources established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for human pathogens and to identify alternative sources for vector resources beyond those found in BEI. The main objective is to support, promote, and enlarge the BEI resource for pathogens and vectors of human disease to include the identification and development of alternative resources that can be used to facilitate the study of arthropod vectors and arthropod-borne zoonotic disease agents of human and animal health importance.

 No new updates

 Objective 2: The rapid increase in the incidence of human illness due to tick-borne pathogens requires better integration of available management options as well as development of new approaches. The aim of this project is to improve methods for assessment of infection status of ticks and reservoirs, to assess ecological risk of tick-borne pathogens and features that regulate tick density, and to test and develop methods for suppression of ticks or pathogens in urban and suburban environments.

Dr. Armstrong (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station) continued a multi-year study on the prevalence of Powassan virus (POWV) infection in field collected ticks to assess the environmental risk of infection. His group documented POWV in 2-5% of ticks in spatially discrete foci throughout Connecticut.  The infection rate is about 2-fold higher in adults versus nymphs.  All virus isolates will be sequenced and compared to track the distribution and persistence of viral strains among sampling locations. 

In another study published in Virus Evolution, Dr. Armstrong and colleagues tracked the genetic diversity of POWV in both the vertebrate host and arthropod vector.  During horizontal transmission from mice to ticks, POWV populations were subject to severe bottlenecks compared to transstadial transmission of virus from one tick life-stage another.   POWV diversified within mice, but was constrained by purifying selection in both mice and ticks. These findings contrast sharply to those of the mosquito-borne flavivirus, West Nile virus (WNV), which is more diverse within the invertebrate vector. Despite limited diversity observed in ticks, they found that RNAi targeting intensity was positively correlated with the presence of intrahost single nucleotide variants, findings similar to those described for WNV in mosquitoes. These data highlight that RNAi-driven diversification may be a common feature of the arthropod-arbovirus interaction. Findings also suggest that differences in transmission frequencies imposed by differing vector life histories may also influence arbovirus population dynamics. Together, these findings provide experimental evidence supporting the observed gradual, long-term evolutionary trends of POWV. 

Dr. Molaei and colleagues initiated 3- year integrated tick management program to control blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, was implemented in CT. Combinations of white-tailed deer reduction, area application of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, and fipronil- based rodent bait boxes were evaluated for their ability to reduce nymphal I. scapularis over 3 years. The combination of fipronil-based bait boxes and broadcast application of M. anisopliae had the most impact of any treatment combination; questing nymphs were reduced 78-95% within each year and Borrelia burgdorferi-infected questing nymphal I. scapularis encounter potential was reduced by 66% as compared with no treatment in the third year of the study. Homeowners looking for less toxic options could use a combination of broadcast treatment of M. anisopliae and fipronil-based rodent bait boxes to significantly reduce encounters with infected nymphal I. scapularis on their properties.

The spatial temporal dynamics of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) infection was evaluated by Molaei and colleagues. Engorged nymph and adult I. scapularis ticks submitted by Connecticut residents to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station were screened for evidence of infection with B. burgdorferi. Tick infection rates were calculated for 7, three-year periods (1996-2016) for each town. Physician-reported LD cases were used to calculate incidence rates at the same spatiotemporal scale as tick infection rates. Of the 87,138 I. scapularis tick submissions, the majority (85%) were from Fairfield and New Haven Counties. The average rates of infection were 31.5% in adults and 22.5% in nymphs. During 1996-2016, there were 29,653 LD cases reported in Connecticut, a downward trend in disease incidence was observed, as well as significant differences among counties. By town, a higher tick infection rate was associated with an increase in the number of physician-reported LD cases. Temporally, they found an increase in tick infection rates and a decrease in physician-reported LD incidence over the study period (1996-2016). They also found a positive association between tick infection rate and physician-reported LD incidence at the town level underscoring the relevance of using passive surveillance methods to estimate risk.

Objective 3: This Aim focuses on on the surveillance, range expansion, ecology, genetics, and disease risk of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti. Although much work has been conducted already on these species, not enough is known about their recent biology, especially in areas where Ae. albopictus has recently invaded (Northeastern States), or where a resurgence in population abundance is occurring for Ae. aegypti (Florida) where it overlaps with Ae. albopictus. This objective will produce the following: (1) development of new data on overwintering survival of the Asian tiger mosquito (2) development of predictive models for vector range expansion and disease transmission, and (3) recommendations best practices for vector control and disease intervention in the face of an outbreak.

Dr. Armstrong (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station) and colleagues recently published a study on the northern range expansion of Ae. albopictus n PLOS Neglected Topical Diseases. Winter temperatures are an important constraint to this species northward expansion and Connecticut appears to be located at the thermal limit for overwintering survival of this species. In this study, mosquitoes were sampled from up to 91 statewide trapping sites from 1997-2016 to track the establishment and range expansion of Ae. albopictus in Connecticut. In addition, Ae. albopictus larvae were monitored in tire habitats and tires were retrieved from the field in the spring and flooded to evaluate overwintering success of hatching larvae. Ae. albopictus was first detected during statewide surveillance when a single specimen was collected in 2006. This species was not collected again until 2010 and was detected every year since then with increasing abundance and distribution except following exceptionally cold winters. Ae. albopictus mosquitoes were most abundant in urban and suburban locations along the Long Island Sound shoreline of southwestern Connecticut; however, single specimens were occasionally detected in central parts of the state. Field-collected females were also screened for arbovirus infection yielding two isolations of Cache Valley virus and one isolation of West Nile virus highlighting the threat posed by this mosquito. Ae. albopictus overwintered in Connecticut under mild winter conditions as shown by recovery of larvae hatching in spring and by early seasonal detection of larvae and adults. This study documents the establishment and expansion of Ae. albopictus at the northern boundary of its range in New England and provides a baseline for monitoring future range expansion and population increases anticipated under climate change.

Dr. Leisnham (University of Maryland), his PhD student, Oswaldo Villena, and colleagues continued their research on the effects of tire habitats on the ecology of Aedes albopictus, and published a study in PLOS One. Discarded vehicle tires degrade under ultraviolet light and leach numerous soluble metals (e.g., barium, cadmium, zinc) and organic substances (e.g., benzothiazole and its derivatives [BZTs], polyaromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]) that could affect mosquito larvae that inhabit the tire casing. This study examined the relationship between soluble zinc, a common marker of tire leachate, on mosquito densities in tire habitats in the field, and tested the effects of tire leachate on the survival and development of newly hatched Aedes albopictus and Aedes triseriatus larvae in a controlled laboratory dose-response experiment. In the field, zinc concentrations were as high as 7.26 mg/L in a single tire and averaged as high as 2.39 (SE ± 1.17) mg/L among tires at a single site. Aedes albopictus (37/42 tires, 81.1%) and Ae. triseriatus (23/42, 54.8%) were the most widespread mosquito species, co-occurred in over half (22/42, 52.4%) of all tires, and A. triseriatus was only collected without Ae. albopictus in one tire. Aedes triseriatus was more strongly negatively associated with zinc concentration than Ae. albopictus, and another common mosquito, Cx. pipiens, which was found in 17 tires. In the laboratory experiment, Ae. albopictus per capita rate of population change (λ′) was over 1.0, indicating positive population growth, from 0–8.9 mg/L zinc concentration (0–10,000 mg/L tire leachate), but steeply declined to zero from 44.50–89.00 mg/L zinc (50,000–100,000 mg/L tire leachate). In contrast, Ae. triseriatus λ′ declined at the lower concentration of 0.05 mg/L zinc (100 mg/L tire leachate), and was zero at 0.45, 8.90, 44.50, and 89.00 mg/L zinc (500, 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 mg/L tire leachate). These results indicate that tire leachate can have severe negative effects on populations of container-utilizing mosquitoes at concentrations commonly found in the field. Superior tolerance to tire leachate of Ae. albopictus compared to Ae. triseriatus, and possibly other native mosquito species, may have facilitated the replacement of these native species as Ae. albopictus has invaded North America and other regions around the world.

Dr. Leisnham (University of Maryland) and his MS student, Kanoko Maeda, completed a study to examine the potential of disconnected downspouts at providing important developmental habitat to urban mosquitoes in two residential watersheds in Maryland, as well as the social factors that may influence mosquito production in both disconnected gutters and other container habitats. A questionnaire on water resources and stormwater management was deployed to residents in 2014-15 that revealed overwhelming concern of mosquito breeding in stormwater structures among respondents (77.7%, 233/299), and that disconnected downspouts were the most common stormwater best management practice (BMP) by residential households. Yard mosquito surveys in the summer of 2016 found that almost all of the disconnected downspouts that held water (32/39, 82.1%) included a black plastic corrugated extension. The most common mosquito collected across all habitats was Aedes albopictus (49.6%) followed by Culex pipiens (30.7%) but only Ae. albopictus was collected from disconnected downspouts. Disconnected downspouts had lower mosquito abundances when compared to other types of water-holding containers, including trash cans, tarps, or trash, and abundances of other containers and not disconnected downspouts were a predictor of household mosquito abundances. A knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) questionnaire revealed that respondent age predicted container source reduction when controlling for other factors, with younger respondents (.

Leisnham and colleagues continued their research on the linkages between the social and institutional processes behind residential abandonment, urban ecology, and the interactions of socio-ecological processes with abiotic drivers of Aedes albopictus production. This research was published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. Specifically, they tested the relative roles of infrastructure degradation and vegetation for explaining the presence of Aedes albopictus Skuse 1894 to better predict spatial heterogeneity in mosquito exposure risk within urban environments. We further examine how precipitation interacts with these socially underpinned biophysical variables. We use a hierarchical statistical modeling approach to assess how environmental and climatic conditions over 3 years influence mosquito ecology across a socioeconomic gradient in Baltimore, MD. We show that decaying infrastructure and vegetation are important determinants of Ae. albopictus infestation. We demonstrate that both precipitation and vegetation influence mosquito production in ways that are mediated by the level of infrastructural decay on a given block. Mosquitoes were more common on blocks with greater abandonment, but when precipitation was low, mosquitoes were more likely to be found in higher-income neighborhoods with managed container habitat. Likewise, although increased vegetation was a negative predictor of mosquito infestation, more vegetation on blocks with high abandonment was associated with the largest mosquito populations. These findings indicate that fine spatial scale modeling of mosquito habitat within urban areas is needed to more accurately target vector control.

Dr. Harrington (Cornell) has been working on three aspects of Ae. albopictus invasion ecology in New York State with graduate student Talya Shragai to understand their abundance, spatial distribution, and habitat preference in order to optimize control and monitoring strategies. They conducted a series of larval surveys over two years across nine sites in residential neighborhoods in southern New York that covered a range of socio-economic status and percent impervious surface. While in the first year, an average of 7.3% of water-holding containers surveyed were positive for Ae. albopictus, in the second year an average of 28.4% of containers were positive, showing a dramatic variability in abundance from year to year. Ae. albopictus were more likely to be found in shaded containers with dead organic material, but were not more likely to be found in any one container type. While in 2016, neither median household income nor percent impervious surface predicted Ae. albopictus abundance, in 2017, sites with greater impervious surface were more heavily infested. In both years, Ae. albopictus distribution was more clustered in sites with greater median household income. There was a near doubling of the overall mosquito abundance from 2016 to 2017.  They infer that biting risk is non-homogenously distributed based on income level and urban development, indicating that different control strategies would be most efficient depending on these measures.  This work is currently in manuscript with a planned submission to the Journal of Medical Entomology in January 2018.  

A related project was conducted with Cornell engineering graduate student Elizabeth Case using UAVs (drones) and machine learning to evaluate UAVs for monitoring Ae. albopictus larval habitats. For this project, two neighborhoods comprising 125 houses in a densely-populated area of southern New York, were surveyed over nine days in 2017 with a UAV. The UAV survey coincided with an entomological survey, which was conducted on a subset of the houses to establish the presence and distribution of mosquito species. Of the 629 containers surveyed on all properties, 64% could be seen from the UAV, with almost 2,000 more features identified from the aerial images (e.g. from houses that were not surveyed). In total, more than 2500 objects of interest (containers suitable mosquito habitat or related features) were annotated. Two previously published neural network architectures were trained on this dataset. Single Shot Multibox Detection was used for image segmentation, achieving an average precision of 59%, a recall of 35%, and an overall accuracy of 31%. Separately, a fully convolutional neural net based on the VGG16 architecture successfully identified properties as positive or negative for Ae. albopictus larvae 80% of the time.

A third Cornell project focuses on characterizing the phenology of Ae. albopictus entry into diapause in the field along the edge of their invasive US range. They are testing the hypothesis that Ae. albopictus diapause induction is both a rapidly adapting and phenotypically plastic trait, especially along its northern range of invasion. Two field seasons are planned.  Ovitraps were deployed from 28 August to 31st October 2017 in 38 locations covering a range of urbanization, SES status and impervious surface.      Testing of diapause status of eggs from season one is underway and results to date are preliminary. The ovitraps themselves were highly successful at trapping eggs - egg count was highest from our first collection and dropped gradually as the weeks progressed, with one week of sharp increase in October. Percent hatch rate seemed to follow trends in temperature data collected at the traps with a 1-2 week lag; as temperatures rose, so did hatch rate. Collectively, these results indicate that: 1) temperature may play a large role in diapause and there is a strong phenotypically plastic response to the environment, 2) the population-wide switch from non-diapause to diapause can be gradual and non-linear, and 3) diapause behavior can vary between relatively nearby populations. These results are in contrast to previous studies on diapause for this species, and may help us both understand the basic science behind diapause and reshape models of current and future population dynamics.    A second season is planned for fall 2018.

A fourth Cornell project was develop an egg identification guide for Aedes container mosquitoes in NY. The guide includes a description of methods for preparing eggs and visualizing them under a compound scope as well as key features for clearly differentiating Aedes albopictus from Ae. triseriatus and Ae. japonicus.  These features include geometry of chorion patterning, ridge shape and chorion reflectance.  The completed guide will be made available on NEVBD’s website.

Dr. Gabriel Hamer (Texas A&M University) and colleagues have finished an investigation about indoor and outdoor surveillance of Ae. aegypti using Sentinel Autocidal Gravid Ovitraps (SAGO) and the manuscript is ready for submission to PLoS NTD. They also have completed the questionnaires of each home (n = 40) with indoor and outdoor SAGO traps to identify social-ecological factors influencing mosquito abundance. They have finished the first year of the randomized control trial of the Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap and are preparing for one more year.

Another Texas A&M project tested the first field stable isotope experiment enriching Ae. aegypti in about 300 natural containers in the field.  The goal of this mark-capture experiment is to identify the success of source reduction campaigns, to compare relative productivity of tires to other container habitat, and to study dispersal of adult male and female Ae. aegypti.

Two collaborative projects were initiated by Drs. Goudarz Molaei (CT Ag. Exp. Station), Gabriel Hamer (Texas A&M), and Laura Harrington (Cornell) to characterize the blood feeding and sugar feeding patterns of Ae. aegypt, Ae. albopictus,i and Cx. quinquesfasicatus. 

Objective 4: This research cluster focuses on the development of mosquito control and management tools for maintaining mosquito populations below nuisance levels and/or below epidemic levels for disease transmission. This includes a broad based approach to new toxicant discovery, screening of compounds derived from natural products, and evaluation of registered compounds for mosquitocidal activity.  In addition, we are exploring gene silencing using RNAi technology as a method to knock down critical proteins in adult and larval mosquitoes with possible applications for control. Microsporidian parasites are known to infect many mosquitoes worldwide, but fundamental knowledge on the genomes of mosquito microsporidia and host-pathogen interactions are poorly known. These products will complement and expand the comprehensive scientific literature regarding operational technologies for mosquito surveillance and control that is already in existence. 

Dr. Gaugler and colleagues from Rutgers University evaluated the efficacy of pyriproxyfen autodissemination stations for the control of container breeding mosquito species. Deployment resulted in a significant reduction in eggs and larval populations.  Pupal mortality, as determined through bioassays, was significantly higher in the deployment sites.  Stations contaminated 50% of junkyard and 40% of tire pile mosquito habitats. Pyriproxyfen was detected in sentinel cups up to 200m from stations.  Detection of pyriproxyfen by residue analysis (0.005 to 0.741 μg L-1) in field samples confirmed the transfer of the insect growth regulator. Use of larvicides with conventional spray methods often show difficulty in penetrating cryptic habitats, but the autodissemination approach, which exploits the oviposition behavior of the target pest, shows further promise. 

In another study, Dr. Gaugler's lab showed that infectious preparasites of two mermithid nematode species could distinguish not only between infected and uninfected mosquito hosts, but even between different parasite loads in showing a strong preference for uninfected hosts or hosts with a low parasite load. Host heart rate declined briefly immediately after parasitism.  Superparasitism resulted in increased parasite mortality.  Scramble competition within mosquito larvae for limited host nutrients, coupled with a skewed sex ratio favoring males, is assumed to lead to parasite population decline and subsequently toward host-parasite population equilibrium.  The ability of mermithid preparasites to accurately assess parasite load likely plays an important role in host population dynamics and regulation.

Males of the mosquito-parasitic nematode, Strelkovimermis spiculatus deposit an adhesive copulatory plug over the female vulva after insemination. In choice experiments, males strongly preferred virgin females, whereas plugged females were ignored. Males made no attempt to displace plugs deposited by previous males.  Plugged females repelled males without physical contact. This chemical repellency was independent of females, since excised plugs alone showed the same negative male response. Plug removal shortly after mating reduced fecundity by 90%, presumably due to spermatids observed leaking from the vulva. The plug as a nutritional gift hypothesis was rejected because there was no post-mating reduction in plug size to suggest absorption. Despite being a male adaption to sperm competition, we conclude that the copulatory plug serves the fitness needs of both males and females in multiple roles that include paternity preservation, reduced male harassment, improved male search for mates, increased fecundity, and sperm retention.

Dr. Leisnham (University of Maryland) in collaboration with researchers at USDA-ARS, completed preliminary experiments that tested the effectiveness of a novel attractant compound (ARS1) for its potential use in ‘attract and kill’ mosquito traps. Prior studies have shown that ARS1 was more attractive to blood-seeking Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti than carbon dioxide in simple laboratory choice assays. Field studies were conducted in late summer 2017 to test ARS1’s attraction to both blood-seeking and ovipositing Ae. albopictus. An oviposition field study with sequential dilutions of ARS1 revealed an effect of compound concentration on numbers of oviposited eggs. Ovicups with 0.04% ARS1 had significantly higher egg numbers than ovicups with lower (0.008%) and higher (0.2%, 1%) concentrations, as well as the control of only distilled water. A before-after-control-intervention (BACI) study using BG Sentinel adult traps baited with an Octenol lure collected more female Ae. albopictus when they were additionally provisioned with ARS1 compared to control traps with the octanol lure only. The results of these studies suggest that ARS1 is attractive to both ovipositing and blood-seeking female Ae. albopictus, would likely be effective at increasing egg and adult collections, and have potential at future bait and kill mosquito traps.

Objective 5: The key outcome will be training and training tools delivered to developing scientists within the field of Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Tools will be (1) a training course in conjunction with one or more Multistate meetings and (2) Publication of a position paper regarding the development of the next generation of scientists within our field.

 No new updates.

• Allahverdipour H, J Karimi, R Talaei-Hassanloui, J Karimi, Y Wang & R Gaugler. 2017. Production of Culex pipiens (Dip.: Culicidae) adults infected by Strelkovimermis spiculatus (Nematoda: Mermithidae) in autodissemination control strategy. J Entomol Soc Iran 37:125-34.
• Armstrong PM, Andreadis TG, Shepard JJ, and Thomas MC (2017) Northern range expansion of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): Analysis of mosquito data form Connecticut USA. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(5): e0005623.
• Brackney DE and Armstrong PM (2016) Transmission and evolution of tick-borne viruses. Curr Opin in Virol 21:67-74.
• Cahill ME, Yao Y, Nock D, Armstrong PM, Andreadis TG, Diuk-Wasser MA,Montgomery RR (2017) West Nile Virus Seroprevalence, Connecticut, USA, 2000-2014. Emerg Infect Dis 23(4):708-710.
• Chandel, K, D Suman, Y Wang, I Unlu, E Williges, G Williams & R Gaugler. 2016. Targeting a hidden enemy: pyriproxyfen autodissemination strategy for control of the container mosquito Aedes albopictus in cryptic habitats. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10:e0005235.
• Dong L, Y Wang, M Sanad, Y Xu & R Gaugler. 2017. Foraging strategy for mosquito parasitic nematodes Romanomermis iyengari and Strelkovimermis spiculatus. Biol Contr 110:56-61.
• Faraji A, I Unlu, T Crepeau, S Healy, S Crans, G Lizarraga, D Fonseca & R Gaugler. 2016. Droplet characterization and penetration of an ultra-low volume mosquito adulticide spray targeting the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, within urban and suburban environments of northeastern USA. PLoS ONE 11:e0152069.
• Gaugler, D Suman, Y Wang. 2016. Autodissemination of an insect-growth regulator for insect management. US Patent 15,050,439.
• Gaugler, Wang, Chandel, D Suman. 2017. Collapsible stackable disposable inexpensive pesticide free traps and attractant for surveillance and control of Aedes container breeding mosquitos. US Patent 20,170,000,101.
• Grubaugh ND, Rückert C, Armstrong PM, Bransfield A, Anderson JF, Ebel GD,and Brackney DE (2016) Transmission bottlenecks and RNAi collectively influence tick-borne flavivirus evolution. Virus Evol 2(2):vew033.
• Lan Y, Y Wang & R Gaugler. 2017. The role of copulatory plugs in the mosquito-parasitic nematode Strelkovimermis spiculatus. J Invertebr Pathol 146:53-7.
• Levine RS, Hedeen DL, Hedeen MW, Hamer GL, Mead DG, Kitron UD. 2017. Avian species diversity and transmission of West Nile virus in Atlanta, Georgia. Parasit Vectors 10(1):62.
• Levine RS, Mead DG, Hamer GL, Brosi BJ, Hedeen DL, Hedeen MW, McMillan JR, Bisanzio D, Kitron UD. 2016. Supersuppression: Reservoir Competency and Timing of Mosquito Host Shifts Combine to Reduce Spillover of West Nile Virus. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 95(5):1174-1184.
• Little, E., P.T. Leisnham, D. Biehler, R. Jordan, S. Wilson, S.L. LaDeau. 2017. Socio-ecological mechanisms supporting high densities of Ae. albopictus in Baltimore, MD. Journal of Medical Entomology doi: 10.1093/jme/tjx103.
• Loss SR, Noden BH, Hamer GL, Hamer SA. 2016. A quantitative synthesis of the role of birds in carrying ticks and tick-borne pathogens in North America. Oecologia. 182(4):947-959.
• Medeiros MC, Boothe EC, Roark EB, Hamer GL. 2017. Dispersal of male and female Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes using stable isotope enrichment. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 11(1):e0005347.
• Medeiros MC, Ricklefs RE, Brawn JD, Ruiz MO, Goldberg TL, Hamer GL. 2016. Overlap in the seasonal infection patterns of avian malaria parasites and West Nile virus in vectors and hosts. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 95(5):1121-1129.
• Newman CM, Krebs BL, Anderson TK, Hamer GL, Ruiz MO, Brawn JD, Brown WM, Kitron UD, Goldberg TL. 2017. Culex flavivirus during West Nile virus epidemic and interepidemic years in Chicago, United States. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 17(8):567-575.
• Sanad M, M Shamseldean, Y Wang, J Sun & R Gaugler. 2017. Superparasitism and population regulation of the mosquito-parasitic mermithid nematodes Romanomermis iyengari and Strelkovimermis spiculatus. J Nematol 49: 316-20.
• Shragai T, Tesla B, Murdock C and Harrington LC. 2017. Zika and Chikungunya: mosquito-borne viruses in a changing world. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13306
• Shragai T and Harrington L.C. 2017. Egg identification guide for Ae. albopictus in the Northeast USA.
• Soghigian J. G. Ridge. K. Stafford, G. Molaei. 2017. The first evidence of nanism in Ixodes (Ixodes) scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), found parasitizing a human host. Journal of Medical Entomology 1–5 doi: 10.1093/jme/tjx111.
• Stafford III KC. SC. Williams, G. Molaei. 2017. Integrated pest management in controlling ticks and tick-associated diseases. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 8(1): 28; 1–7 doi: 10.1093/jipm/pmx018
• Suman D, Yi Wang, Ary Faraji, G Williams, E Williges & R Gaugler. 2017. Seasonal field efficacy of autodissemination stations against container-inhabiting mosquito Aedes albopictus under different habitat conditions. Pest Manag Sci DOI: 10.1002/ps.4780.
• Unlu I, D Suman, Y Wang, I Rochlin, K Klingler, A Faraji & R Gaugler. 2017. Effectiveness of autodissemination stations containing pyriproxyfen in reducing immature Aedes albopictus populations. Parasit Vectors 10:139. 10.1186/s13071-017-2034-7.
• Unlu I, D Suman, Y Wang, G Williams, I Rochlin, K Chandel & R Gaugler. 2017. Evaluation of lambda-cyhalothrin and pyriproxyfen barrier treatments for Aedes albopictus management in urbanized areas of New Jersey. J Med Entomol (in press).
• Villena, O.C., I. Terry, K. Iwata, E.R. Landa, S.L. LaDeau, P.T. Leisnham, P.T. 2017. Effects of tire leachate on the invasive mosquito Aedes albopictus and the native congener Aedes triseriatus. PeerJ, 5, p.e3756.
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• Williams SC, KC Stafford III, G Molaei, MA Linske. 2017.  Integrated control of Ixodes scapularis: Effectiveness of white-tailed deer reduction, the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, and fipronil-based rodent bait boxes. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2017.2146