Asian Tiger Mosquito

Aedes albopictus — the Asian tiger mosquito — is one of the most rapidly-spreading invasive insects of the modern era and a major emerging public-health concern across temperate Europe, North America, and parts of South America. Native to Southeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia), the species has invaded every inhabited continent since the 1970s, primarily through the international USED-TIRE TRADE: A. albopictus eggs are notably resistant to desiccation (surviving 6+ months without water), and discarded tires accumulate small amounts of rainwater that serve as ideal larval habitat. Used tires shipped internationally for retreading or scrap carry both eggs (in dried tire residue) and larvae (in residual water), and the species establishes wherever the tires arrive. The species is now established across the southeastern US (since 1985), much of Europe (since 1990 in Albania, now widespread), Central and South America, parts of Africa, and Australia. Like the closely related yellow fever mosquito (A. aegypti), the Asian tiger mosquito is a competent vector of multiple arboviruses: dengue (all four serotypes), chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever, and several less-common arboviruses. The species' major epidemiological importance compared to A. aegypti is that A. albopictus tolerates colder winters and can establish in temperate climates that A. aegypti cannot reach — making the tiger mosquito the primary expected vector of dengue and chikungunya outbreaks in the increasingly-tropical temperate zones of southern Europe, the southeastern US, and northern Argentina. The species is the central focus of modern integrated mosquito management programs in invaded ranges and is one of the most-monitored invasive insects in WHO and ECDC public-health surveillance.