Dissertation Research: Population Structure and Genetic Variation of the Yellow Fever Mosquito (Aedes aegypti) in Southeast Arizona

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9801453KidwellAedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito that also vectors dengue hemorrhagic fever, has reemerged in southeastern Arizona after fifty years of putative eradication. The proposed study will use molecular markers to examine the genetic structure of this population of mosquitoes, and that of neighboring populations, in order to determine the genetic and/or historical factors that define this invasion. It is not clear if A. aegypti has recently recolonized the Tucson area, or if it has been present all along at very low frequencies with recent conditions being ripe for a population expansion. If the former is the case, the resulting genetic data will have value to the field of invasion biology. In the latter case, empirical results regarding the recovery of a population from a small number of individuals will be useful to conservation biologists. Also, information about the origin and migration patterns of an insect disease vector should greatly benefit future eradication programs.