MEMO-Monitoring exotic mosquitoes in Belgium

Sampling event
Version 1.8 published by Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp on Nov 9, 2021 Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
Publication date:
09 November 2021
License:
CC-BY 4.0

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Description

Memo - Monitoring exotic mosquitoes in Belgium is a sampling event dataset published by the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (ITM). It is part of the early detection of exotic mosquito species (EMS) along high-risk introduction routes in Belgium, in which data are collected at defined locations using a standardized protocol. This dataset contains mosquito trap counts for Culicidae. Here, it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each sampling event an eventID, date, location and sampling protocol (in the event core), and for each occurrence an occurrenceID, the number of recorded individuals, status, (present/absent), information on the identification and scientific name (in the occurrence extension). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/BelgianBiodiversityPlatform/data-publication-ITG/issues

We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. We would appreciate it if you follow the INBO norms for data use (https://www.inbo.be/en/norms-data-use) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, don't hesitate to contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Please be aware, this is an old version of the dataset.  Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Deblauwe I, De Wolf K, Brosens D, Smitz N, Vanslembrouck A, Van Bortel W (2021): MEMO-Monitoring exotic mosquitoes in Belgium. v1.8. Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. Dataset/Samplingevent. https://ipt.biodiversity.be/resource?r=itm-memo-occurrence&v=1.8

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: a178c443-d737-4938-b983-5fa8e50936fe.  Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Belgian Biodiversity Platform.

Keywords

Samplingevent; Mosquito; surveillance; invasive Aedes; points of entry; introduction; Aedes albopictus; Aedes japonicus; Aedes koreicus; Belgium; disease vectors; Samplingevent

Contacts

Isra Deblauwe
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
BE
Katrien De Wolf
  • Originator
Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
BE
Dimitri Brosens
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
Belgian Biodiversity Platform
BE
Adwine Vanslembrouck
  • Originator
Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
BE
Wim Van Bortel
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
BE
Dimitri dimitri.brosens@inbo.be

Geographic Coverage

Belgium

Bounding Coordinates South West [49.49, 2.53], North East [51.51, 6.41]

Taxonomic Coverage

Mosquitoes

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Diptera
Superfamily Culicoidea

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2017-08-17 / 2020-03-04

Project Data

The early detection of exotic mosquito species (EMS) along high-risk introduction routes before populations become established is of paramount importance to prevent local transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. Following previous EMS surveillance projects in Belgium, a three-year national active EMS monitoring project (MEMO) started in July 2017 to detect possible foci of introduction and establishment of EMS at an early stage in Belgium. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, active monitoring was implemented in 20 to 23 different Points of Entry (PoE). The risk of introduction and establishment of the EMS at each PoE was re-evaluated annually to ensure that the monitoring focused on the highest risk sites. Different collection methods were used, including BG-Sentinel and Mosquito Magnet® traps to collect host seeking female mosquitoes, oviposition traps to detect eggs, and larval sampling. The collected specimens were sorted and identified using morphological characteristics (Gunay et al. 2020, Becker et al. 2010). The caught EMS and five percent of all collected mosquitoes were molecularly identified to validate and confirm the morphological identification, and were subsequently deposited in a molecular reference collection. A specific molecular identification pipeline was developed to enable the proper identification of all mosquito species occurring in Belgium. Further, a morphological collection with a fair representation of the species and the most intact specimens sampled during the MEMO project was generated for future reference. Data management was done using the VECMAP® software.

Title MEMO - Monitoring of Excotic Mosquitoes
Funding This three-year project was financed by the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels governments and the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment in the context of the National Environment and Health Action Plan (NEHAP).
Study Area Description Belgium
Design Description Exotic mosquitoes, such as the tiger mosquito (Aedes albipoctus), are spreading as a result of increased globalisation and climate change. They were able to establish themselves in Southern Europe and now have also been spotted in Belgium. The tiger mosquito is a small but fierce creature with a painful bite that can also transmit viruses such as the dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. The species originally came from Southeast Asia but has now spread to Europe and America due to international transport of goods, global warming and its ability to adapt. Early detection enables better control. Even if these species manage to establish themselves here, it is important to closely monitor populations.

The personnel involved in the project:

Isra Deblauwe

Sampling Methods

Different collection methods were used, including BG-Sentinel and Mosquito Magnet® traps to collect host seeking female mosquitoes, oviposition traps to detect eggs, and larval sampling. The collected specimens were sorted and identified using morphological characteristics. The caught EMS and five percent of all collected mosquitoes were molecularly identified to validate and confirm the morphological identification, and were subsequently deposited in a molecular reference collection.

Study Extent The objectives of the MEMO-project were the following: • To actively monitor mosquitoes in order to detect the possible introduction of EMS in Belgium (scenario 1) and quantify the already established local populations of EMS (scenario 2); • To detect, identify, evaluate and monitor potential import sites or points of entry (PoE’s) based on existing passive monitoring data, experience gained and/or other relevant epidemiological or ecological information; • Possible expansion of the active basic monitoring plan with additional actions: quantifying the possible introduction and spread of newly detected EMS ; • To process the collected samples including the morphological and molecular identification of collected samples, appropriate storage, reporting of all collected relevant stages of mosquito species, and the establishment of a morphological and molecular reference collection; • Analysis of the import risk of EMS in Belgium taking into account the potential PoE’s, the ecological profile of the species and climate scenarios; • To make recommendations for a future, long-term, cost-effective monitoring plan for EMS in Belgium based on the practical experience and the developed risk analysis; • Responding to ad hoc questions from the contracting authority; • Transferring the knowledge and skills generated in the project.
Quality Control Data are collected using a predefined sampling protocol and morphological identification was validated using DNA barcoding

Method step description:

  1. Researchers from ITM defined the appropriate sampling protocol for the target species.
  2. Fieldwork was planned and coordinated by ITM
  3. Data was collected in the field by trained personnel.
  4. The collected data was entered into VecMap
  5. The data was exported and manually corrected by experts
  6. A custom R & Grel script was created to map the original data to Darwin Core as an event core with an occurrence extension (https://github.com/BelgianBiodiversityPlatform/data-publication-ITM)
  7. The Darwin Core files are connected to the BBPF IPT and documented with metadata.
  8. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

Collection Data

Collection Name RBINS MEMO mosquito-collection
Collection Identifier IG 34179
Parent Collection Identifier not applicable
Specimen preservation methods Mounted

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Deblauwe I., De Wolf K., Smitz N., Vanslembrouck A., Schneider A., De Witte J., Verlé I., Dekoninck W., De Meyer M., Backeljau T., Gombeer S., Meganck K., Van Bourgonie Y.-R., Vanderheyden A., Müller R., Van Bortel W. 2020. Monitoring of exotic mosquitoes in Belgium (MEMO): Final Report Phase 7 Part 1: MEMO results. 100 pp.
  2. Ibáñez-Justicia, A., Smitz, N., den Hartog, W., van de Vossenberg, B., De Wolf, K., Deblauwe, I., Van Bortel, W., Jacobs, F., Vaux, A., Medlock, J. M., & Stroo, A. 2020. Detection of Exotic Mosquito Species (Diptera: Culicidae) at International Airports in Europe. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(10), 3450. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103450
  3. De Wolf K, Vanderheyden A, Deblauwe I, Smitz N, Gombeer S, Vanslembrouck A, Meganck K, Dekoninck W, DE Meyer M, Backeljau T, Müller R, VAN Bortel W. First record of the West Nile virus bridge vector Culex modestus Ficalbi (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belgium, validated by DNA barcoding. Zootaxa. 2021 Jan 27;4920(1):zootaxa.4920.1.7. PMID: 33756679 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4920.1.7
  4. Smitz, N., De Wolf, K., Deblauwe, I. et al. Population genetic structure of the Asian bush mosquito, Aedes japonicus (Diptera, Culicidae), in Belgium suggests multiple introductions. 2021. Parasites Vectors 14, 179. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-021-04676-8
  5. Smitz N., De Wolf, K., Gheysen A., Deblauwe I., Vanslembrouck A., Meganck K., De Witte J., Schneider A., VerléI., Dekoninck W., Gombeer S., Vanderheyden A., De Meyer M., Backeljau T., Müller R., Van Bortel W. (2021) DNA identification of species of the Anopheles maculipennis complex and first record of An. daciae in Belgium. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 35, 442–450 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/mve.12519
  6. Deblauwe I.,Ibáñez-Justicia A., De Wolf K., Smitz N., Schneider A., Stroo A., Jacobs F., Vanslembrouck A., Gombeer S., Dekoninck W., Müller R., Van Bortel W. (2021) First detections of Culiseta longiareolata (Culicidae, Diptera) in Belgium and the Netherlands. Journal of Medical Entomology tjab127, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab127

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers a178c443-d737-4938-b983-5fa8e50936fe
https://ipt.biodiversity.be/resource?r=itm-memo-occurrence