Author: krnoel@illinois.edu

Congratulations to Noah Seo on successfully defending his Master of Science thesis, “Population Structure and Evidence of Genome Segment Reassortment in Jamestown Canyon Virus Detected in Mosquitoes from Illinois, USA.”

Noah’s research advanced our understanding of the molecular epidemiology and evolution of Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), an emerging mosquito-borne pathogen in North America. Using mosquito samples collected in Illinois, he generated complete viral genomes and identified evidence of genome segment reassortment, providing new insights into JCV population structure and movement across the continent.

His work fills an important gap in publicly available JCV genomic data from the Midwest and contributes valuable information for arbovirus surveillance and public health monitoring.

Congratulations, Noah, on this outstanding achievement!

We are excited to share our latest publication in Microbial Ecology: “Habitat Type and Locality Structure the Midgut Microbiota of Aedes albopictus.”

Mosquitoes are more than just pests; they are complex organisms that host diverse communities of bacteria inside their digestive systems. These microbial communities, known as the microbiome, can influence mosquito health, development, immunity, and even their ability to transmit diseases.

In our new study, researchers investigated how local environments affect the microbiome of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), an invasive species found throughout much of the United States and a potential vector of several important pathogens.

The team collected mosquitoes from both residential neighborhoods and woodland habitats in Champaign-Urbana and Charleston, Illinois. By analyzing bacterial DNA from mosquito midguts, the researchers discovered that mosquitoes living in different environments carried distinctly different bacterial communities.

One of the clearest findings was that mosquitoes collected from woodland habitats hosted more diverse bacterial communities than those collected from residential areas. The differences were also influenced by location, suggesting that local environmental conditions play an important role in shaping the microbes mosquitoes acquire throughout their lives.

Why does this matter? The bacteria living inside mosquitoes can affect how they interact with pathogens, making the microbiome an increasingly important area of study for understanding mosquito biology and disease transmission. By identifying how habitat and geography influence mosquito-associated microbes, this research provides new insights into the ecological factors that may shape mosquito populations and their potential public health impacts.

This work highlights the importance of studying mosquitoes within the environmental contexts in which they live and demonstrates how urbanization and habitat differences can influence the hidden microbial world inside these insects.

This research was a collaborative effort among scientists from the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Eastern Illinois University, and Erciyes University in Türkiye, bringing together expertise in mosquito ecology, microbiology, and vector biology.

You can access the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-026-02792-5

Featured photo credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has awarded a $450,000 grant to the Medical Entomology Lab at the Illinois Natural History Survey to support a two-year statewide surveillance project focused on ticks, mosquitoes, and biting midges. The project includes collecting and testing arthropods for pathogens and insecticide resistance, helping track vector-borne disease risks across Illinois. Data collected through the project support public health reporting and contribute to statewide disease monitoring tools used by researchers, health officials, and clinicians.

Read the full article here: IDPH grant supports tick, mosquito surveillance across the state by Xander Hazel

Featured image: An adult blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) questing. Photo by KPixMining – stock.adobe.com (Education license, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).

Dr. Arif Ciloglu, a member of INHS-MEL and visiting parasitologist from Erciyes University in Kayseri, Turkey, was recently featured in the Prairie Research Institute’s “People of PRI.”

Check out the interview to learn more!

Members of the Illinois Natural History Survey Medical Entomology Lab participated in the 71st Annual Meeting of the Illinois Mosquito and Vector Control Association (IMVCA), held in Champaign, Illinois, on November 20–21, 2025. Our team contributed presentations, participated in the student competition, and took on leadership roles within the association.

Student Competition Recognition

Graduate students Joseph Spina and Vinisha Basnet represented the lab in the Henry M. Lawicki Student Competition.
We are excited to share that Joseph Spina won 2nd place for his presentation, “Exploring the Epidemic Potential of Ross River Virus in the United States Through Vectorial Capacity and Qualitative Risk Assessment.”

Lab Presentations

Two lab members delivered presentations across the two-day program:

Andrew Mackay presented “Identifying Potential Vectors of Jamestown Canyon Virus in Northeastern Illinois.”
Chris Stone presented “Culex Hybridization, Avian Malaria Infection Rates, and Tick Surveillance Updates.”

Leadership Announcements

We are proud to announce that Kylee Noel became the new Vice President of IMVCA during this year’s meeting. Additionally, Chris Stone was appointed as a Member Representative for the association. Congratulations to both Kylee and Chris for stepping into these impactful roles!

Lab Members in Attendance

In addition to the presenters and competitors, the following lab members were also in attendance and represented the INHS Medical Entomology Lab:

• Raymond Kim
• Gabriel Yan
• Arif Ciloglu
• Corrado Cara
• Lance Jones

A Strong Presence at IMVCA 2025

Our lab was well-represented across talks, leadership roles, and student competition activities. We are proud of everyone who contributed and grateful for the opportunity to engage with Illinois’ mosquito and vector control community.

Featured image photo credit: The Entomological Society of America

Members of the INHS Medical Entomology Lab attended the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon (November 9–12, 2025), where they showcased a wide range of research in vector biology, mosquito ecology, and pathogen transmission. We are proud to share the many contributions our team made during this year’s conference—and to celebrate an award-winning presentation from one of our students.

Student Award Recognition

Joseph Spina, a graduate student in our lab, won First Place in the Graduate 10-Minute Paper Competition: MUVE, General for his presentation on the epidemic potential of Ross River virus. Congratulations, Joseph, on this outstanding achievement!

Symposia and Presentations

Chris Stone and Gabriel Yan co-organized and hosted a symposium on environmental impacts on mosquito biology and vector-borne pathogen transmission. Kylee Noel, Arif Ciloglu, and Raymond Kim each delivered oral presentations on their current research, ranging from insecticide and heat influences on West Nile virus risk to phylogenomics of tick divergence and environmental determinants of mosquito microbiota. Noah Seo presented a poster on the genomic diversity of Jamestown Canyon virus in mosquitoes from northeastern Illinois.

We are proud of the impactful science our group brought to ESA this year and extend special congratulations to Joseph for his first-place win!

Dr. Arif Ciloglu delivered two seminars highlighting current research on avian vector-borne parasites and their ecological significance.

The first seminar, titled “Tiny Hitchhikers, Big Impacts: Following Vector-Borne Parasites on the Wings of Birds,” was presented at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) on September 30, 2025. A second talk, “A Bird’s-Eye View of Avian Haemosporidian Parasites: Detection, Ecology, and Evolution,” was given at the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on October 9, 2025.

Both seminars provided valuable insights into the detection, ecology, and evolution of avian haemosporidian parasites and their vectors.

We congratulate Dr. Ciloglu for his successful presentations.