Phylogenetic study of Aedes albopictus and Aedes koreicus (Diptera, Culicidae) origin, two invasive mosquito species in Belgium

The main ways of the introduction of invasive mosquito species in Europe were greatly facilitated by the importation of used tires and plants from the South of China (Dracaena sanderiana, called "Lucky bamboo"), which are a very good breeding sites of these mosquitoes (www.eidatlantique.eu). For Belgium, several species of exotic mosquitoes have already been listed such as Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus, Aedes albopictus and A. koreicus. We have captured one male of A. albopictus in Belgium in July 2013 (Boukraa et al, 2013), and teams from other entomologist have been able to find several individuals in the months that have followed our discovery (personal communication). However, his presence was reported first in 2000 (Schaffner et al. 2004) but until 2012, no individuals have been found (Versteirt et al., 2013). We also could find larvae of A. koreicus in abundance. These discovery suggest that these two invasive species are being established in Belgium.
Methods:
Adult mosquitoes were collected by CO2-baited traps Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus (MMLP) and immature stages by the dipping method from 8 sites of Belgium. Each individual was then determined morphologically. For A. albopictus and A. koreicus, reconfirmation by molecular method was performed with COI and ND5 mitochondrial primers and sequences were then aligned with those of mosquitoes available in databases by using BioEdit and Multialn softwares. The two gene sequences were concatenated to improve the reliability of the phylogenetic analysis and were carried out by using the Seaview software based on maximum likelihood (ML) methods. Trees were then constructed with the general time reversible (GTR) model, and branch supports were estimated by bootstrapping with 1000 replicates.
Result:
The aim of this work will focus on the study of the probable origin of these two species of Aedes, which are for the moment safe yet, but that might become dangerous in the event of massive outbreak. The knowledge of the probably origin of the two invasive mosquitoes allow take more protection against their way to enter in the country.