First nationwide mosquito surveillance in Northern Irish wetlands reveals presence of Culex pipiens/molestus hybrids
- 1Queen's University Belfast
Abstract
While mosquito invasions and associated pathogens are increasingly prominent in Europe, evidence gaps remain for many northerly regions where proactive management interventions may be most effective. At the regional periphery of Europe, there remains a significant knowledge gap concerning mosquito vector distributions in Northern Ireland. This study aimed to address this major gap by systematically surveying larval and adult mosquito populations in key habitats (ponds, reedbeds, saltmarsh, wet grasslands, wet woodlands, and urban gardens). We further identified environmental drivers of important vector species abundance and screened collected specimens with molecular techniques to identify presence of cryptic human-biting vector species. In Northern Ireland, mosquitoes (including potential bridge vectors of West Nile and Usutu viruses) were found to be widely distributed. Between May and August 2025, a total of 2430 mosquitoes (951 adults and 1479 larvae) were collected over 196 trap nights and 76 larval collections. Collections encompassed 17 species, with Culex pipiens/torrentium being the most widely distributed and abundant taxon recorded. Mosquito abundances were greatest in reedbed habitats, related negatively with rainfall and peaked in June and July. A subset of Culex pipiens/torrentium mosquitoes were identified to species/biotype level using PCR, with the majority (89.3%) identified as Culex pipiens pipiens and 9.3% as Culex torrentium. Importantly, the first detections of Culex pipiens/molestus hybrids (1.8%) on the island of Ireland were found. This work underscores the wide, yet previously undocumented abundance and distribution of potential zoonotic vectors in Northern Ireland and provides an important baseline for management planning and future research, while contributing to broader understandings of environmental population drivers and distributions.
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BibTeX
@misc{carmichael2026first,
title = {{First nationwide mosquito surveillance in Northern Irish wetlands reveals presence of Culex pipiens/molestus hybrids}},
author = {R. M. Carmichael and G. Kirby and L. Sloan and A. Desjardins and J.-P. Parvy and F. Baldini and E. Pondeville and J. T. A. Dick and H. M. Ferguson and R. N. Cuthbert},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.08.757519},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757519v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - First nationwide mosquito surveillance in Northern Irish wetlands reveals presence of Culex pipiens/molestus hybrids
AU - R. M. Carmichael
AU - G. Kirby
AU - L. Sloan
AU - A. Desjardins
AU - J.-P. Parvy
AU - F. Baldini
AU - E. Pondeville
AU - J. T. A. Dick
AU - H. M. Ferguson
AU - R. N. Cuthbert
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.08.757519
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757519v1
AB - While mosquito invasions and associated pathogens are increasingly prominent in Europe, evidence gaps remain for many northerly regions where proactive management interventions may be most effective. At the regional periphery of Europe, there remains a significant knowledge gap concerning mosquito vector distributions in Northern Ireland. This study aimed to address this major gap by systematically surveying larval and adult mosquito populations in key habitats (ponds, reedbeds, saltmarsh, wet grasslands, wet woodlands, and urban gardens). We further identified environmental drivers of important vector species abundance and screened collected specimens with molecular techniques to identify presence of cryptic human-biting vector species. In Northern Ireland, mosquitoes (including potential bridge vectors of West Nile and Usutu viruses) were found to be widely distributed. Between May and August 2025, a total of 2430 mosquitoes (951 adults and 1479 larvae) were collected over 196 trap nights and 76 larval collections. Collections encompassed 17 species, with Culex pipiens/torrentium being the most widely distributed and abundant taxon recorded. Mosquito abundances were greatest in reedbed habitats, related negatively with rainfall and peaked in June and July. A subset of Culex pipiens/torrentium mosquitoes were identified to species/biotype level using PCR, with the majority (89.3%) identified as Culex pipiens pipiens and 9.3% as Culex torrentium. Importantly, the first detections of Culex pipiens/molestus hybrids (1.8%) on the island of Ireland were found. This work underscores the wide, yet previously undocumented abundance and distribution of potential zoonotic vectors in Northern Ireland and provides an important baseline for management planning and future research, while contributing to broader understandings of environmental population drivers and distributions.
ER -