Milani Villa
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Milani Villa has a total of 11 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Agne Prasauskas
Pasco County Mosquito Control District, Odessa, FL 33556, USA
1 shared publication - Alden S. Estep
Mosquito & Fly Research Unit, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, USA
1 shared publication - Bright Agbodzi
Department of Infectious Diseases & Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610 USA
1 shared publication - Daniel Killingsworth
UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Vero Beach, FL 32962, USA
1 shared publication - Edwin R. Burgess
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
1 shared publication - Isik Unlu
Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
A Tandem Metabarcoding and Taxonomic Forensics Approach to Surveillance of Mosquito–Plant Interactions for Culex quinquefasciatus in Florida
Interactions with plants are an important aspect of mosquito vector biology and ecology because mosquitoes often use plants as nutritional resources. Plant DNA metabarcoding is a recent approach to address this topic. Culex quinquefasciatus is a vector of several important pathogens in Florida and is subject to significant control efforts, but no studies to date have explored what plants they may feed on. We addressed this by conducting a statewide collection of Cx. quinquefasciatus from six Florida counties and subjected them to plant DNA metabarcoding and cross-referenced the identified plants to a Florida state plant voucher database for each sampled county. A total of 30 families and 47 genera were identified. Plants included many that are cultivated and non-cultivated in Florida, including backyard garden produce, grasses, and some invasive species. Concurrence of plant families and genera was generally high in the respective sampled counties based on available plant vouchers. These data provide the first statewide survey of plants associated with Cx. quinquefasciatus in Florida. This information serves as an important basis for confirming plant taxa that are important to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which could translate to the development of better control strategies and tools.
Open AccessA Tandem Metabarcoding and Taxonomic Forensics Approach to Surveillance of Mosquito–Plant Interactions for Culex quinquefasciatus in Florida
Interactions with plants are an important aspect of mosquito vector biology and ecology because mosquitoes often use plants as nutritional resources. Plant DNA metabarcoding is a recent approach to address this topic. Culex quinquefasciatus is a vector of several important pathogens in Florida and is subject to significant control efforts, but no studies to date have explored what plants they may feed on. We addressed this by conducting a statewide collection of Cx. quinquefasciatus from six Florida counties and subjected them to plant DNA metabarcoding and cross-referenced the identified plants to a Florida state plant voucher database for each sampled county. A total of 30 families and 47 genera were identified. Plants included many that are cultivated and non-cultivated in Florida, including backyard garden produce, grasses, and some invasive species. Concurrence of plant families and genera was generally high in the respective sampled counties based on available plant vouchers. These data provide the first statewide survey of plants associated with Cx. quinquefasciatus in Florida. This information serves as an important basis for confirming plant taxa that are important to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which could translate to the development of better control strategies and tools.