The power of citizen science mosquito surveillance

Have you noticed more mozzies around lately?

The increasing rains, and the warm and humid weather impacted by La Nina, can offer favourable conditions to mosquitoes to develop. Flooded areas and the increase of artificial water ponds can also serve as breeding sites for opportunistic species. Not only are mosquitoes a concern due to nuisance biting, but they can also play a role in the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

To learn more about the mosquito fauna present in people’s backyards, a citizen science mosquito monitoring project was launched in 2018, by Prof. Craig Williams and his research team, in the University of South Australia. This program, named Mozzie Monitors, is a collaboration with community members who help researchers collect, photograph and identify mosquito species in Australia. Citizen scientists can participate in two ways: using a passive mosquito trap in their backyards, or using the online citizen science platform, iNaturalist iNaturalist. Both methods are unique and bring novel and meaningful information to science.

In 2022, as a Mozzie Monitors initiative, the research team is organising the Mozzie Month, from February 14th to March 29th.

Check out some observations already shared during Mozzie Month.

Aedes procax observed by @mozziemike, Aedes alboannulatus observed by @suzieandjim, Aedes vittiger observed by @dlync.

A mosquito community on iNaturalist
Mozzie Monitors also has an ever growing community of mozzie lovers (or not so much), passionate naturalists and enthusiasts that share mosquito photos on the online citizen science platform iNaturalist. iNaturalist is an open and free platform available on the web or mobile app. It can be used on all devices, and it allows people to share observations (photos or sounds) of wildlife in general. Enthusiasts contribute worldwide to this global platform, which uses crowdsourcing and artificial intelligence to identify species. Besides being an international biodiversity database, it is also a network of citizen scientists, people interested in learning and sharing their observations and researchers that can access this information to study species of interest. Additionally, photos or sounds of wildlife shared on this platform contribute to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). In other words, people can contribute to research of global importance from their local areas.

What about the mozzies?
Mozzie Monitors has a project on iNaturalist that collects every mosquito data uploaded to the platform. Since 2018, over 70 species of mosquitoes have been reported in Australia , including rare and invasive species and species of medical importance. But the project also received photos of pollinator mosquitoes and a first ever observation of a mosquito species on a carnivore plant. Besides, in February 2021, a new mosquito species was photographed for the first time in Australia and uploaded to iNaturalist. This discovery shows the power of citizen science and citizen scientists’ observations, contributing to novel information about mosquito species, behaviour and distribution.
Indeed, there are over 300 species of mosquitoes in Australia, and many of them can pose a risk to public health. There are also many undescribed species, and citizen science platforms could potentially expand the scientific knowledge about mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases.

Monitoring mosquitoes is essential for mosquito management and mosquito-borne diseases prevention.
Please, share your photos of mosquitoes from all over Australia on iNaturalist during Mozzie Month 2022.
More information and past reports on mozziemonitors.com and mozziemonitors@unisa.edu.au

Social media:
Facebook – Mozzie Monitors project
Twitter – Mozzie Monitors
Instagram – Mozzie Monitors #mozziemonitors #mozziemonth #mozziemonth2022

BRAZ SOUSA, L., FRICKER, S. & WILLIAMS, C. 2020a. How a Citizen Science Program is Innovating Mosquito Surveillance in Australia. Mosquito Bites in the Asia Pacific Region. Online.
BRAZ SOUSA, L., FRICKER, S. R., DOHERTY, S. S., WEBB, C. E., BALDOCK, K. L. & WILLIAMS, C. R. 2020b. Citizen science and smartphone e-entomology enables low-cost upscaling of mosquito surveillance. Sci Total Environ, 704, 135349.
BRAZ SOUSA, L., FRICKER, S. R., WEBB, C. E. & WILLIAMS, C. R. 2021. Mozzie Month Technical Report.
SOUSA, LB, CRAIG, A, CHITKARA, U, FRICKER, S, WEBB, C, WILLIAMS, C AND BALDOCK, K. 2022. Methodological Diversity in Citizen Science Mosquito Surveillance: A Scoping Review. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 7(1): 8, pp. 1–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.469
WEBB, C., DOGGETT, S. & RUSSELL, R. 2016. A guide to mosquitoes of Australia, CSIRO Publishing.
WEBB, C., CLANCY, J., DOGGETT, S., MCALISTER, E., WILLIAMS, C., FRICKER, S., VAN DEN HURK, A., LESSARD, B., LENAGAN, J. & WALTER, M. 2021. First record of the mosquito Aedes (Downsiomyia) shehzadae (Diptera: Culicidae) in Australia: A unique discovery aided by citizen science (in review). Journal of Vector Ecology.

Posted on February 26, 2022 07:12 AM by larissabrazsousa