Surveillance for Immature Mosquitoes in Windshield Wash Basins at Gas Stations

Abstract

Gas stations often provide windshield wash basins (WWBs) that customers may use to clean their windshields. Motivated by casual observations, we conducted a survey of WWBs in and around Raleigh, NC, to determine whether these WWBs also serve as larval habitats for mosquitoes. We found that 27.7% (95% CI: 12.4-43.14%) of the 36 surveyed gas stations had mosquito larvae in their WWBs, and 22.4% (95% CI: 15.07-29.1%) of the 152 WWBs surveyed were positive for mosquito larvae. Two species were identified inhabiting these containers: Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say. Aedes albopictus was associated with clear, unturbid water, whereas Cx. quinquefasciatus did not have any significant association with water characteristics. Pupae of both species were observed, suggesting these habitats could be sources of pest mosquitoes. Gas stations may be a convenient surveillance target for vector control specialists and may provide insight into human-aided mosquito dispersal.

Keywords: Aedes albopictus; Culex quinquefasciatus; Zika; dispersal; sampling.