Research Ideas and Outcomes : Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Data Paper (Biosciences)
Florida Keys Mosquito Control District mosquito trapping data between Vaca Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, 2018-2021
expand article info Heidi L. Murray ‡
‡ Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, Marathon, Florida, United States of America
Corresponding author: Heidi L. Murray (heidimur@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Editorial Secretary
Received: 25 Oct 2022 | Accepted: 07 Dec 2022 | Published: 12 Dec 2022
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
Citation: Murray HL (2022) Florida Keys Mosquito Control District mosquito trapping data between Vaca Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, 2018-2021. Research Ideas and Outcomes 8: e96714. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.8.e96714
 Open Access

Abstract

Background

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) is an independent taxing district in Monroe County, Florida. The mission of FKMCD is to protect the community and visitors of the Florida Keys from mosquito-borne disease and prevent nuisance mosquitoes from impacting the quality of life of its citizens and the local economy. The State of Florida requires mosquito control programmes to provide recorded evidence of mosquito activity prior to pesticide application. Surveillance is an appropriate method to record the abundance and mosquito species present in an area to determine if adulticide applications are necessary. Mosquito surveillance traps have been set by FKMCD since 1998. Trapping is conducted throughout the District to document species composition and abundance. Mosquito surveillance is used for operational decisions for both nuisance mosquitoes and disease vectors.

New information

This dataset includes previously unreported mosquito trapping results in Monroe County, Florida. This dataset includes trap results collected from CDC light traps and BG Sentinel traps set weekly on Vaca Key, Flamingo Island, Key Colony Beach, Fat Deer Key, Crawl Key, Long Point Key, Grassy Key, Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key from 1 January 2018 through to 31 December 2021.

Keywords

Diptera, Culicidae, mosquito surveillance, Florida Keys

Introduction

Chapter 388 of the Florida Statutes requires mosquito control agencies to follow specific criteria before applying pesticides (Florida Legislature 2022). Prior to pesticide application, mosquito control agencies must demonstrate a potential for a mosquito-borne disease outbreak or a quantifiable increase in the abundance of nuisance mosquitoes. To demonstrate the need for pesticide application, the agency must document elevated landing rate counts, receive service requests from the public that are confirmed by landing rate counts, trap counts or visual confirmation from a licensed inspector or trap numbers need to exceed 25 mosquitoes per trap night (Florida Department of State 2022, Rule Chapter 5E-13). The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) has conducted adult mosquito surveillance using light traps since 1998 in an effort to document mosquito abundance and species present in areas throughout the Keys (Hribar et al. 2018, Hribar 2020). This dataset covers mosquito trapping activity conducted by FKMCD between the islands of Vaca Key and Lower Matecumbe Key in Monroe County, Florida from 1 January 2018 through to 31 December 2021. A small portion of this dataset has been previously published on the species Deinocerites cancer Theobald (Diptera, Culicidae) on Grassy Key and Long Key, Florida (Hribar 2019).

General description

Purpose: 

These data were collected to document the species composition and abundance of mosquitoes for weekly control decisions made by FKMCD between Vaca Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida.

Sampling methods

Description: 

This dataset provides weekly trapping results from 1 January 2018 through to 31 December 2021 for the islands of Vaca Key, Flamingo Island, Key Colony Beach, Fat Deer Key, Crawl Key, Long Point Key, Grassy Key, Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key in Monroe County, Florida.

Sampling description: 

Traps were set in the afternoon and retrieved the following morning for approximately 18-20 hours of running time. Traps were set weekly with a few exceptions due to weather or illness. The mosquito traps used during this time period were CDC miniature light traps model 512 (John W. Hock Company, Gainesville, FL) and BG Sentinel 2 traps (Biogents, Regensberg, Germany). Both the CDC light traps and BG Sentinel traps were baited with approximately 1.36 kg of dry ice in a 2 litre insulated cooler. The BG traps were also deployed with BG-Lure (Biogents, Regensberg, Germany) as an additional attractant specifically for Aedes aegypti Linnaeus (Diptera, Culicidae) mosquitoes. Light traps were powered with 6 volt, 12 amp sealed lead acid rechargeable batteries and the BG Sentinel traps were powered with 12 volt, 7 amp sealed lead acid rechargeable batteries. Mosquito collections were returned to the FKMCD laboratory in Marathon, Florida and killed by freezing. Mosquito collections were identified to species and sexed by a certified mosquito identification specialist. Identification was completed using identification guides (Darsie and Ward 2016, Darsie and Morris 2000).

Geographic coverage

Description: 

Traps were set between Vaca Key (24.67401, -80.96224) and Lower Matecumbe Key (24.86528, -80.71451), Monroe County, FL.

Taxonomic coverage

Description: 

A total of 30 mosquito species were identified to species level from trap collections.

Taxa included:
Rank Scientific Name Common Name
species Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) Yellow fever mosquito
species Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse, 1895) Asian tiger mosquito
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) atlanticus Dyar & Knab, 1906
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) condolescens Dyar & Knab, 1907
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) infirmatus Dyar & Knab, 1906
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) sollicitans (Walker, 1856) Saltmarsh mosquito
genus Aedes Meigen, 1818
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann, 1821) Black saltmarsh mosquito
species Aedes (Ochlerotatus) tortilis (Theobald, 1903)
species Aedes (Protomacleaya) triseriatus (Say, 1823) Eastern treehole mosquito
species Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albimanus Wiedemann, 1821
species Anopheles (Anopheles) atropos Dyar & Knab, 1906
species Anopheles (Anopheles) crucians Wiedemann, 1828
species Anopheles (Anopheles) quadrimaculatus Say, 1824 Common malaria mosquito
genus Anopheles Meigen, 1818
species Culiseta (Culiseta) inornata (Williston, 1893)
species Culiseta (Climacura) melanura (Coquillett, 1902)
genus Culiseta Felt, 1904
subgenus Culex (Melanoconion) Theobald
species Culex (Melanoconion) atratus Theobald, 1901
species Culex (Culex) bahamensis Dyar & Knab, 1906
species Culex (Culex) declarator Dyar & Knab, 1906
species Culex (Melanoconion) erraticus (Dyar & Knab, 1906)
species Culex (Melanoconion) iolambdis Dyar, 1918
species Culex (Melanoconion) peccator Dyar & Knab, 1909
species Culex (Melanoconion) pilosus (Dyar & Knab, 1906)
species Culex (Culex) nigripalpus Theobald, 1901
species Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 Southern house mosquito
genus Culex Linnaeus, 1758
species Deinocerites cancer Theobald, 1901 Crabhole mosquito
genus Deinocerites Theobald, 1901
species Psorophora (Grabhamia) columbiae (Dyar & Knab, 1906) Dark rice-field mosquito
species Psorophora (Janthinosoma) johnstonii (Grabham, 1905)
species Psorophora (Grabhamia) pygmaea (Theobald, 1903)
genus Psorophora Robineau-Desoidy, 1827
species Uranotaenia lowii Theobald, 1901
genus Uranotaenia Lynch Arribalzaga, 1891
genus Wyeomyia Theobald, 1901
species Wyeomyia vanduzeei Dyar & Knab, 1906

Temporal coverage

Notes: 

Data collected for this dataset range from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021.

Usage licence

Usage licence: 
Creative Commons Public Domain Waiver (CC-Zero)

Data resources

Data package title: 
Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Values File
Number of data sets: 
1
Data set name: 
Marathon Area Trap Data 2018-2021
Data format: 
CSV
Column label Column description
Location ID Trap location name.
Island Island that trap was set on.
Collection site type Description of trap site location land use type.
Latitude North coordinates of trap location in decimal degrees.
Longitude West coordinates of trap location in decimal degrees.
Trap type Type of trap set.
Attractant Attractant/lure set with trap.
Start Date Date trap was set, format type DD/MM/YYYY.
End Date Date trap was retrieved, format type DD/MM/YYYY.
NOTES Details explaining that trap collection did not go as expected; data are invalid.
M male specimen count.
F female specimen count.
Total sum of both male and female specimens counted.

Additional information

The size of the dataset is 898.96 Kb. The file format is CSV. Data are available under Suppl. material 1.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all surveillance technicians and field inspectors at FKMCD who assisted with data collection. I thank Lawrence J. Hribar and Catherine A. Pruszynski for assistance with mosquito sorting and identification of trap collections in this dataset from 2018-2021.

References

Supplementary material

Suppl. material 1: Marathon Area Trap Data 2018-2021 
Authors:  Heidi L. Murray
Data type:  count data in a Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Values File
Brief description: 

Florida Keys Mosquito Control District surveillance data from adult trap collections between Vaca Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, Monroe County, FL from 1 January 2018 through to 31 December 2021.

Download file (898.96 kb)
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