Mosquito-borne diseases cause major human diseases in almost every part of the world. In West Africa, and notably in Mali, vector control measures help reduce the impact of mosquito-borne diseases, although malaria remains a threat to both morbidity and mortality. The most recent overview article on mosquitoes in Mali was published in 1961, with a total of 88 species. Our present review focuses on mosquitoes of medical importance among which the Anopheles vectors of Plasmodium and filaria, as well as the Culex and Aedes vectors of arboviruses. It aims to provide a concise update of the literature on Culicidae, covering the ecological areas in which the species are found but also the transmitted pathogens and recent innovative tools for vector surveys. This review highlights the recent introduction of invasive mosquito species, including Aedes albopictus and Culex neavei. The comprehensive list of mosquito species currently recorded includes 106 species (28 species of the Anophelinae and 78 species of the Culicinae). There are probable gaps in our knowledge concerning mosquitoes of the subfamily Culicinae and northern half of Mali because most studies have been carried out on the genus Anopheles and have taken place in the southern part of the country. It is hoped that this review may be useful to decision makers responsible for vector control strategies and to researchers for future surveys on mosquitoes, particularly the vectors of emerging arboviruses.

Mosquitoes transmit a wide range of human parasitic and viral diseases. In recent years, new techniques such as MALDI-TOF MS have been developed to identify mosquitoes at the species level, which is key for entomological surveys. Additionally, there is increasing interest in the mosquito microbiota and its role in vector capacity. The culturomics approach previously used in our laboratory to study human gut microbiota was applied to evaluate the midgut bacterial diversity of Anopheles gambiae (wild and laboratory strains), Aedes albopictus (wild and laboratory strains) and Culex quinquefasciatus (wild strains) in order to determine the influence of the environmental status on the midgut microbiota of the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes collected in the field were accurately identified by MALDI-TOF MS analysis of their legs. Adult mosquito midgut microbiota was composed of four phyla, including Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The majority of the bacteria detected in the microbiota of mosquitoes were gram-negative and belong to the phylum Proteobacteria. MALDI-TOF MS identified for the first time a new bacterial species from An. gambiae midgut microbiota. In this study, the culturomics approach was found to be a reliable technique for exploring the diversity of the mosquito microbiota. MALDI-TOF MS was confirmed as a promising technique to identify mosquitoes collected in the field. Culturomics allowed the isolation of a new bacterial species not previously associated with mosquito vectors. The environment plays a role in the bacterial diversity of the microbiota, which could enable the development of new control strategies for mosquito-borne disease.

The widespread circulation of the Anopheles vector is observed during the rainy season and clearly decreases during the dry season, when only a few mosquitoes are able to survive. This study aimed to identify the major species sustaining continued malaria transmission across seasons. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a malaria-endemic area. Mosquitoes were captured in Faladie using pyrethroid spray catches during rainy and dry seasons. The collected mosquitoes were identified using morphological keys, combined with molecular techniques such as PCR-RFLP (IGS regions) for Anopheles (An.) gambiae s.l. identification. Plasmodium spp. positivity in each mosquito was characterized by qPCR using parasite 18 S genes. A total of 1082 and 1705 mosquitoes were captured inside the same houses in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. In the rainy season, 454 (41.9%) were Anopheles, 624 (57.7%) Culex and 4 (0.4%) Aedes. During the dry season, 65 (3.81%) mosquitoes were Anopheles, while 1,640 (96.19%) were Culex. Morphologically, the anopheline population consisted of 100% An. gambiae s.l. The Anopheles species diversity in the rainy season comprised the sister taxa, An. gambiae s.s. and An. Coluzzii, followed by an An. gambiae/An. coluzzii hybrid and An. arabiensis. However, An. coluzzii was found as the only vector across the rainy and dry seasons that sustained malaria transmission. Plasmodium falciparum infection rates were 9.7% and 1.7%, respectively, for the rainy and dry seasons. An. coluzzii species can survive both the dry and the rainy seasons and sustain malaria through cross-seasonal transmission. This highlights the importance of tackling An. coluzzii species and residual malaria transmission to eradicate the disease in endemic areas.