NEON Biorepository Mosquito Collection (Pathogen Extracts)

This collection contains pathogen extracts from mosquitoes collected during CO2 trapping at terrestrial sites (NEON sample class: mos_pathogenpooling_in.testingVialID, mos_pathogenresults_in.dnaExtract). When adult mosquitoes are active, sampling occurs (via CDC light traps) every two weeks at core sites and every four weeks at gradient sites. A sampling bout consists of one trapping night and the following day for up to ten plots per site (before 2018 mosquitoes were trapped for two nights per bout). A set of up to 1000 individual mosquitoes per species per site per year are targeted for pathogen testing of arboviruses within the families Bunyaviridae, Alphaviridae, and Flavivirdae. Prior to 2020, individuals identified to the species-level within the genera of Aedes and Culex were tested. After 2020, the subset of species tested for pathogens was narrowed to include: Culex tarsalis, Culex restuans, Culex pipiens, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex erraticus, Culex nigripalpus, Culex salinarius, Aedes japonicus, Aedes triseriatus, Culiseta melanura, Culiseta morsitans, Psorophora columbiae, Coquillitidia perturbans, Aedes dorsalis, Aedes trivittatus, Aedes canadensis mathesoni. Mosquitoes that meet pathogen-testing criteria collected within the same site and sampling bout are homogenized into a large pool of female conspecifics and then subdivided into testing vials of appropriate pool sizes for pathogen testing. Each vial is tested one or more times using a variety of methods which may include RT-PCR, Vero cell culture, and melt curve assays. Pathogen extracts from the University of Massachusetts Laboratory of Medical Zoology are archived at the NEON Biorepository in 2 mL cryovials and stored at -80 degrees Celsius. See related links below for protocols and NEON related data products.