Diapause characterisation and seasonality of Aedes japonicus japonicus (Diptera, Culicidae) in the northeast of France.

The invasive mosquito Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald, 1901) settled in 2013 in the Alsace region, in the northeast of France. In this temperate area, some mosquito species use diapause to survive cold winter temperatures and thereby foster settlement and dispersal. This study reports diapause and its seasonality in a field population of Ae. japonicus in the northeast of France. For two years, eggs were collected from May to the beginning of November. They were most abundant in summer and became sparse in late October. Diapause eggs were determined by the presence of a fully developed embryo in unhatched eggs after repeated immersions. Our study showed effective diapause of Ae. japonicus in this part of France. At the start of the egg-laying period (week 20), we found up to 10% of eggs under diapause, and this rate reached 100% in October. The 50% cut-off of diapause incidence was determined by the end of summer, leading to an average calculated maternal critical photoperiod of 13 h 23 min. Interestingly, diapause was shown to occur in part of the eggs even at the earliest period of the two seasons, i.e. in May of each year. Even though we observed that the size of eggs was positively correlated with diapause incidence, morphology cannot be used as the unique predictive indicator of diapause status due to overlapping measurements between diapausing and non-diapausing eggs. This study provides new knowledge on diapause characterisation and invasive traits of Ae. japonicus.

TITLE: Caractérisation de la diapause et saisonnalité d'Aedes japonicus japonicus (Diptera, Culicidae) dans le nord-est de la France. ABSTRACT: Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald, 1901), un moustique invasif, s'est installé en 2013, en Alsace, dans le nord-est de la France. Dans une telle région tempérée, certaines espèces de moustiques ont recours à la diapause pour survivre aux températures froides de l'hiver, ce qui favorise donc l'établissement et la dispersion de ces espèces. Cette étude montre le phénomène de diapause et la saisonnalité d'une population sauvage d'Ae. japonicus dans le nord-est de la France. Pendant deux ans, les œufs ont été collectés de mai à début novembre. Ils étaient plus abondants durant l'été et plus rarement présents en octobre. Les œufs diapausants ont été déterminés par la présence d'un embryon entièrement développé dans les oeufs non éclos après des immersions répétées. Notre étude a mis en évidence une diapause effective d'Ae. japonicus dans le nord-est de la France. Au début de la période de ponte (semaine 20), jusqu'à 10 % des œufs a été trouvé à l'état de diapause et ce taux atteint 100 % en octobre. Un taux de 50 % de diapause a été atteint à la fin de l'été, amenant à une photopériode critique maternelle calculée de 13 heures 23 minutes en moyenne. De façon intéressante, il a été montré que la diapause se produisait chez une partie des œufs, et ce même dès le début des deux saisons, en mai de chaque année. Bien que nous ayons observé que les mesures des œufs étaient positivement corrélées avec le taux de diapause, la morphologie des œufs seule ne peut pas être utilisée comme unique indicateur de prédiction du statut de diapause, à cause d'un chevauchement des mesures entre les œufs diapausants et non diapausants. Cette étude offre de nouvelles connaissances sur les caractéristiques de la diapause et sur les traits d'invasion d'Ae. japonicus.

The Trick of the Hedgehog: Case Report and Short Review About Archaeopsylla erinacei (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) in Human Health.

Fleas are ectoparasites of various animals, including Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 (Primates: Hominidae). Among the species relevant to the human health field, either due to their dermatopathological potential or because of their role as vectors of microorganisms responsible for infectious diseases, such as plague or murine typhus, are the human flea, oriental rat flea, closely related cat and dog fleas, and chigoe flea. However, other species can accidentally infest humans. We have herein reported two unusual cases of humans infested and bitten by Archaeopsylla erinacei, the hedgehog flea. This species has been identified using stereomicroscopy, on the base of key characteristics. Furthermore, a brief literature review has revealed that hedgehog fleas could carry human-infectious agents, such as Rickettsia felis Bouyer et al. 2001 (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) or Bartonella henselae Regnery et al.1992 (Rhizobiales: Bartonellaceae). Using molecular biology, we thus tested nine A. erinacei specimens taken from these patients, for several bacteria species commonly associated with hematophagous arthropods, implicated in human pathology. However, all our samples were proven negative. The role of A. erinacei in human epidemiology has never been evaluated to date. This report sought to remind us that these fleas can be accidental parasites in humans. In addition, recent findings pertaining to bacteria of medical interest that are present in these insects should be brought to the fore, given that the question of their role as vectors in human infections remains unanswered and deserves further investigation.

Have centenarians had younger parents than the others?

This work, based on a matched case-control design, tests the assumption that centenarians were conceived by parents younger than the parents of individuals who had lifespan close to mean life duration. The centenarians are paired with controls of the same sex, born at the same place and at the same time in order to avoid traditional biases related to mortality peaks or secular trend of increase in life expectancy. The parental age at the time of the birth registration of 320 centenarians born in France between 1875 and 1890 and deceased between 1990 and 1999 is collected, as well as the one of 603 controls of the same sex whose births were recorded immediately before or after those of the future centenarians on the birth registers of the cities concerned. No difference is found between the parental age of parents of centenarians and of controls. In particular, no difference is found for females. Recent studies showed--from genealogical data--that the life expectancy of a female would be much reduced if her father was old at the time of her conception. Our study does not indicate a negative effect of a higher paternal age on the longevity of daughters.