MEMO (Monitoring of Exotic MOsquito species in Belgium). Culicidae, Diptera

The early detection of exotic mosquito species (EMS) along high-risk introduction routes before populations become established is of paramount importance to prevent local transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. Following previous EMS surveillance projects in Belgium, a three-year national active EMS monitoring project (MEMO) started in July 2017 to detect possible foci of introduction and establishment of EMS at an early stage in Belgium. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, active monitoring was implemented in 20 to 23 different Points of Entry (PoE). The risk of introduction and establishment of the EMS at each PoE was re-evaluated annually to ensure that the monitoring focused on the highest risk sites. Different collection methods were used, including BG-Sentinel and Mosquito Magnet traps to collect host seeking female mosquitoes, oviposition traps to detect eggs, and larval sampling. The collected specimens were sorted and identified using morphological characteristics. The caught EMS and five percent of all collected mosquitoes (native and invasive) were molecularly identified to validate and confirm the morphological identification, and were subsequently deposited in a molecular reference collection. A specific molecular identification pipeline was developed to enable the proper identification of all mosquito species occurring in Belgium. Further, a morphological collection with a fair representation of the species and the most intact specimens sampled during the MEMO project was generated for future reference. Tissue and DNA are stored at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Collection Identifier: IG34179).