Latitudinal Diversity of <i>Culex pipiens</i> Biotypes and Hybrids in Farm, Peri-Urban, and Wetland Habitats in Europe - Fig 1

<p><b>Main effects of (A) trap type, (B) country, and (C) habitat on the ratio of <i>Culex pipiens</i> biotypes and their hybrids.</b> The total sample size (n) is indicated for each bar. Significance is displayed for each pairwise comparison, with ns = not significant, ** = p < 0.01, *** = p < 0.001. BGS = Biogents Sentinel trap, MMLP = Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus, SW = Sweden, NL = The Netherlands, and IT = Italy.</p

Latitudinal Diversity of <i>Culex pipiens</i> Biotypes and Hybrids in Farm, Peri-Urban, and Wetland Habitats in Europe

<div><p>Despite the presence of <i>Culex (Cx</i>.<i>) pipiens</i> mosquitoes and circulation of West Nile virus (WNV), WNV outbreaks have so far not occurred in northern Europe. The species <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> consists of two morphologically identical biotypes, <i>pipiens</i> and <i>molestus</i>, which can form hybrids. Until now, population dynamic studies of <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> have not differentiated between biotypes and hybrids at the European scale, nor have they used comparative surveillance approaches. We therefore aimed to elucidate the relative abundance of <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> biotypes and hybrids in three habitat types at different latitudes across Europe, using two different surveillance traps. BG-Sentinel and Mosquito-Magnet Liberty Plus traps were placed in three habitat types (farms, peri-urban, wetlands), in three European countries (Sweden, The Netherlands, Italy). Collected <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> mosquitoes were identified to biotype with real-time PCR. Both trap types collected equal ratios of the biotypes and their hybrids. From northern to southern latitudes there was a significant decrease of <i>pipiens</i> and an increase of <i>molestus</i>. Habitat types influenced the relative ratios of biotypes and hybrids, but results were not consistent across latitudes. Our results emphasize the need to differentiate <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> to the biotype level, especially for proper future WNV risk assessments for Europe.</p></div

Total number of collected <i>Cx</i>. <i>pipiens</i> females per trap type, habitat, and country.

<p>BGS = Biogents Sentinel trap, MMLP = Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus trap, SW = Sweden, NL = The Netherlands, and IT = Italy.</p

Coordinates of all 27 trapping locations in the three different habitat types (farms, peri-urban, and wetlands) in three different European countries (Sweden, The Netherlands, and Italy).

<p>Coordinates of all 27 trapping locations in the three different habitat types (farms, peri-urban, and wetlands) in three different European countries (Sweden, The Netherlands, and Italy).</p