Occurrence of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Ka'u district of the Island of Hawaii

The occurrence of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus in the district of Ka'u, near the southern most point on the Island of Hawaii was investigated using ovitraps from 4 June 2002 through 26 April 2003. A total of 10,467 eggs were obtained from the ovitraps. From these eggs, 5207 adult Aedes mosquitoes were recovered. Of these adults, 3826 (73%) were Ae. albopictus and 1381 (27%) were Ae. aegypti. A peak number of eggs were collected in March for Ae. albopictus and in April for Ae. aegypti. No correlation was found between the amount of rainfall and number of mosquito eggs. A comparison between Ohia leaf infusion water and tap water resulted in twice as many eggs occurring in the former than the latter. However, the percentage of eggs reared to the adult stage was similar (ca. 50%) for both types of water. Adults reared from Ohia leaf infusion were 62.0% Ae. albopictus and 38.0% Ae. aegypti; similarly, adults reared from tap water were 60.4% Ae. albopictus and 39.6% Ae. aegypti.