Modeling Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) abundance in Nu‘uanu Valley, Hawai‘i: The role of building footprint size

Abstract

Since their introduction in Hawai‘i, mosquitoes have contributed to declines in native bird populations and to multiple dengue outbreaks across the islands. The most prevalent mosquito throughout Oahu, in both urban and rural environments, is Aedes albopictus (Skuse). Ovipositional trapping and larval habitat sampling were conducted to create generalized linear models to evaluate how urbanization affects Ae. albopictus abundance and to assess its environmental plasticity across three sites in Nu‘uanu Valley, Oahu, Hawai‘i. Four consecutive weeks of ovitrapping resulted in 31 eggs at the low site, 410 eggs at the middle site, and 85 eggs at the high site. Due to differences in mosquito abundance among sites, we evaluated population drivers including potential larval habitats, abiotic environmental factors, and four measurements of urbanization (total building area, percentage of building area, average building size, and number of buildings). The negative binomial model results indicated that Ae. albopictus was more prevalent in areas containing high densities of small buildings with the average building footprint size being a significant predictor. The elevation and density of potential natural breeding sites were not significant factors contributing to abundance of Ae. albopictus. Because most of these buildings were homes, we posit that residents of these areas located in the Nu‘uanu Valley have a higher risk of mosquito encounters than in other sites evaluated. These single-family residential neighborhoods offer a starting point for mosquito control operations during the next dengue outbreak in Hawai‘i.