Insect fauna including unrecorded species in Ulleungdo, South Korea.

Background: Ulleungdo harbours a unique ecosystem owing to its isolation from the mainland alongside its maritime climate. The island, formed via volcanic activity, is the largest island in the East Sea of Korea and retains a primeval forest. The ecosystems are being destroyed owing to increasing human activity on the island. Therefore, through the investigation of the insect fauna of Ulleungdo, we tried to provide information that can be the basis for understanding the island ecology of Ulleungdo. This survey was conducted four times between April and October in 2020 at Seonginbong. New information: The findings of the survey regarding insect fauna at Seonginbong, Ulleungdo included 10 orders, 105 families, 216 genera and 212 species, of which 12 families, two subfamilies, 13 genera and 74 species were previously unrecorded. The data have been registered in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; www.GBIF.org).

Species Diversity of Anopheles Mosquitoes and Plasmodium vivax Infection Rates, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea During 2020.

There are currently >300 malaria cases reported annually in the Republic of Korea (ROK), with most cases attributed to exposure in northern Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). The species diversity and malaria infection rate were determined for a sample of Anopheles mosquitoes collected from May to early November 2020 for six sites in a malaria high-risk area in/near the DMZ and two malaria low-risk areas in southern Gyeonggi province using Mosquito Magnet traps in the ROK. A total of 1864 Anopheles spp. were identified to species by PCR. Overall, An. kleini (31.4%, 510/1622) was the most frequently species assayed, followed by An. pullus (25.5%, 413/1622), An. sineroides (23.9%, 387/1622), and An. sinensis (10.2%, 165/1622), while the other four species only accunted for 9.1% (147/1622) collected in/near the DMZ. Only three species, An. pullus, An. sinensis, and An. sineroides were collected at Humphreys US Army Garrison (USAG) (235 individuals), while only An. sinensis was collected at Yongsan USAG (7 individuals). A total of 36 Anopheles specimens belonging to five species collected in/near the DMZ were positive for Plasmodium vivax by PCR. Anopheles kleini (9) was the most frequent species positive for P. vivax, followed by An. belenrae (8), An. pullus (8), An. sinensis (5), An. sineroides (5), and a member of the Anopheles Lindesayi Complex in the ROK (1). This is the first report of P. vivax in a member of the An. Lindesayi Complex in the ROK. These findings can assist in guiding future malaria vector management in the ROK.

A multiplex PCR assay for six Aedini species, including Aedes albopictus.

BACKGROUND: Mosquitoes, as vectors of various human pathogens, are significant drivers of serious human illness. In particular, those species in the Aedini tribe, which typically transmit dengue virus, Chikungunya fever virus, and Zika virus, are increasing their range because of climate change and international commerce. In order to evaluate the risk of disease transmission, accurate mosquito species identification and monitoring are needed. The goal of this work was to develop a rapid and simple molecular diagnostic method for six morphologically similar Aedini species (Aedes flavopictus, Aedes albopictus, Ochlerotatus koreicus, Ochlerotatus japonicus, Ochlerotatus togoi and Ochlerotatus hatorii) in Korea. METHODS: A total of 109 samples were assayed in this study. The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions from all six species were amplified, sequenced and analyzed using Mega 6. Following the identification of regions that were consistently different in terms of sequence between all six species, multiplex primers were designed to amplify these regions to generate species-specific fragments distinguishable by their size. RESULTS: Uniquely sized fragments were generated in Ae. flavopictus (495 bp), Ae. albopictus (438 bp), Oc. koreicus (361 bp), Oc. togoi (283 bp), Oc. hatorii (220 bp) and Oc. japonicus (160 bp). Pairwise distance analysis showed that the difference was 35.0 ± 1.5% between Aedes spp. and Ochlerotatus spp., 17.4 ± 0.2% between Ae. albopictus and Ae. flavopictus and 11.1 ± 0.3% between Oc. koreicus and Oc. japonicus. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a multiplex PCR assay for six species of the Aedini tribe was developed. This assay is more accurate than morphological identification and will be useful for monitoring and controlling these vector mosquitoes.