Project:

Native and Invasive mosquito species on the Conscience Bay Shore, Long Island

Students:

Raphael Popescu, Mark Marinescu, Jack Lu, Semih Ustaoglu

School:

The Stony Brook School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Erol Altug

Abstract:

Thriving in aquatic and human-made habitats, the mosquitoes (Culicidae) family spread across the entire planet: today, only Antarctica is still preserved. On Long Island, a lot of attention is focused today on the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus. Native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, this adaptable invasive species can carry arboviruses like the West Nile and chikungunya (Zika) viruses (NY Health). The objective of our project is to determine the preferred sites of the native and invasive mosquito species and investigate how the presence of the mosquitos’ natural enemies bats, birds, and spiders interact and shape the genetic variations in mosquitos on the Conscience Bay Shore, Long Island.

Poster:

Team samples: