NEW PARISH RECORDS FOR AEDES JAPONICUS IN LOUISIANA, USA.

Aedes japonicus is an invasive container-breeding mosquito species of considerable medical and veterinary importance. This species is native to eastern Asia but spread to North America in the late 1990s and to central Europe later. In the United States, Ae. japonicus was first detected in the Northeast in 1998. It has since spread to all states east of the Mississippi river including the five bordering states along the river's western bank (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana) as well as to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. In Louisiana, Ae. japonicus was first reported from Orleans parish in 2020 and then from St. Tammany parish in 2023. Here, we report Ae. japonicus from East Feliciana parish from 2025 to 2026 representing new parish records for the species in the state. However, the role of Ae. japonicus in the transmission of arboviruses in Louisiana is unknown and remains to be examined in further studies.