Monitoring and surveillance of insect vectors and insect pests: analysis of the associated risk and study of the distribution of resistance to insecticides (Move-in)
The project aims to constantly monitor insect vectors and insect pests over time in some selected geographical areas, not only nationally, to verify the distribution flows of insects and the risks associated with them. The insects monitored are mosquitoes and sandflies (both vectors of numerous human and animal pathogens) and the medfly (Ceratitis capitata), one of the major insect pests for many crops. Insect captures are carried out seasonally through specifically developed traps and capturers, associating them with climatic and environmental data. Through morphological and molecular analyses, the insects are catalogued by species and through analysis of specific gene locus, the state of sensitive or resistant to pyrethroids (the class of insecticides currently most used) is defined. Furthermore, for insect vectors, infecting pathogens (e.g. Usutu virus, West Nile Virus, Filariae) will possibly be detected via molecular analyses. Using Machine Learning systems, all data is processed, thus allowing both the production of continuously updated insect distribution maps (and the risk associated with them) (also in relation to climate and/or environmental changes), and the development of surveillance and control methods adapted to specific geo-environmental conditions.
Keywords - ENGLISH
Mosquito; Medfly; Insect monitoring; Integrated Insect Management; machine learning; insects’ pathogens surveillance.
Active participants in the research line (PI last author or *)
Monica Falcinelli, Paolo Luigi Catapano; Giulia Lombardi; Mahdokht Ilbeigi Khamseh Nejad; Silvia Sorana; Muhammad Sameer Zubair; Paul Audrey Mayi; Paolo Rossi; Alessia Cappelli; Claudia Damiani*; Irene Ricci*; Guido Favia*
External Collaborations
Gioia Capelli and Fabrizio Montarsi, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy; Stefano Gavaudan, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche, Ancona, Italy; Chiara Currà, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Heraklion, Crete; Alessandra della Torre, Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases-Università di Roma Sapienza, Rome, Italy; Christophe Antonio-Nkondjio, Malaria Research Laboratory, Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Pillar
Environmental Sustainability
Macroareas in Environmental Sustainability
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
Relevant research grants (national/international) funding specifically this Research Line
Prin 2020 (grant 2020xybn88) from the italian ministry of education and research “Tackling mosquitoes in italy: from citizen to bench and back”; Prin-PNRR2022 (grant P2022TJWB) from the Italian Ministry of Education and Research “Pyrethroid resistance in mosquitoes in Italy; PRIN 2022 (grant 2022J45MLL) from the Italian Ministry of Education and Research: “Climate change: comparing invasive mosquitoes"; Horizon 2020 - ERC POC (grant 842429) from European Union “Launch Test of Natural Biocides for the Control of Insect Borne Diseases”; PRIN2022 (grant 2022J9YSP9) from the Italian Ministry of Education and Research. “The bacterial community as a shield against insecticides: Ceratitis capitata as a model to study the role of symbiotic bacteria in pesticide resistance, and the potential role of pesticides in triggering the emergence nosocomial pathogens in reservoir insects”.
Email Address
guido.favia@unicam.it
Link to Relevant Publications