Project:

Accurate identification of Aedes atlanticus and Aedes tornentor, through the use of DNA barcoding. Part 2

Students:

Kyvena Canal, Julieth Sarmiento-Vasquez, Justin Escalante, Krystal Galloway

School:

Wyandanch Memorial High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Karl Spielmann

Abstract:

Monitoring and identifying mosquito populations in Long Island, such as the Aedes atlanticus and Aedes tormentor, has become important. Monitoring mosquitoes has become crucial in controlling and preventing the spread of diseases, such as yellow fever and West Nile virus, which can be serious and deadly. Surveys and barcoding projects have helped understand their distribution and life cycles all along Long Island. Having been monitored since the early 1970s, a study has shown that the Suffolk County Health Department collected samples at state parks like Robert Moses, allowing them to distinguish between the species of mosquitoes genetically. The Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Program has made maps of mosquito habitats and assessed the environmental impacts of mosquito control methods. Historically, surveys only recently started documenting the Aedes atlanticus/tormentor, linking them to possibly being the source of spreading pathogens like the Keystone virus. Th

Poster:

Team samples: