Data from Entomological Collections of Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) in a post-epidemic area of Chikungunya, City of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Arbovirus epidemics (chikungunya, dengue, West Nile fever, yellow fever and zika) are a growing threat in African areas where Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895) are present. The lack of comprehensive sampling of these two vectors limits our understanding of their propagation dynamics in areas at risk of arboviruses. Here, we collected 6,943 observations (both larval and human capture) of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus between 2020 and 2022. The study was carried out in the Vallee de la Funa, a post-epidemic zone in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Our results provide important information for future basic and advanced studies on the ecology and phenology of these vectors, as well as on vector dynamics after a post-epidemic period. The data from this study are published in the public domain as the Darwin Core Archive in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

these two vectors limits our understanding of their propagation dynamics in areas at risk from arboviruses.Thus, studies such as ours have contributed to understanding the dynamics of these vectors.
Here we describe, for the first time, the geographical distribution of two arbovirus vectors (Ae.aegypti and Ae.albopictus) in a chikungunya post-epidemic zone in the provincial city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, between 2020 and 2022.

General spatial coverage
This study was carried out in the Vallée de la Funa (Figure 1), a forest gallery in the hilly area of the commune of Mont Ngafula.It is located within a secondary forest island dominated by Millettia laurentii and Pentaclethra eetveldeana trees.
The forest gallery is located between latitude 4°25′06.17′′Sand longitude 15°18′05.77′′E,covering around 45 hectares, see Figure 2 for a map of the georeferenced occurrences in GBIF.The average annual rainfall in the area is around 1,095 mm.However, rainfall in Kinshasa is abundant and unevenly distributed throughout the year.The highest volume of precipitation occurs in November, with an average of 268.1 mm, and the lowest volume occurs in July, with an average of 0.7 mm.The average annual relative humidity is 79%.
The mapping of the sampling points for this study was generated using ArcGIS version 10.8 software (RRID:SCR_011081) [5], based on geographical coordinates (east longitude and south latitude) recorded at each entomological collection point using a Garmin Etrex GPmap 64s GPS.The vector layers used on the map were derived from the Référentiel Géographique Commun database of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mosquito collection
The general taxonomic coverage description for this work is the Culicidae Family, specifically Ae. aegypti (commonly known as yellow fever mosquito; NCBI:txid7159) and Ae.albopictus (commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito or moustique tigre in French; NCBI:txid7160).
Two sampling techniques were used to collect immature and adult stages of Aedes spp. between January 5, 2020-December 30, 2022.Whatever the collection method, morphological identification of adult mosquitoes was carried out using the taxonomic keys [6].

Larval collection
During the 2020-2022 study period, larvae were collected once a year in October, which heralds the return of heavy rains after the dry season stretching from mid-May to mid-August.Immature stages of Aedes spp.were collected from various breeding sites (abandoned pots, tires, cans and other containers) using the dipping technique.In this technique, water is taken from the breeding sites using a ladle or a small container, and it is used to search for Culicidae larvae, specifically those of Aedes spp.These larvae were collected and stored in jars containing water from their respective breeding sites, then transported to the insectarium of the Laboratory of Bioecology and Vector Control (or BIOLAV), where they were reared until adulthood under insectarium conditions (temperature: 28 ± 1 °C; relative humidity: 70-80%; photoperiod 14 h:10 h light:dark).In the insectarium, larvae were placed in rearing tanks according to the type of larval habitat they were found in the field; pupae pipetting and adult emergence followed the same classification procedures.Five days after emergence, adult mosquitoes were sucked into cages, placed in jars and cooled to −23 °C to prevent their escape during identification.The identification data was encoded into an Excel sheet, and the mosquito samples were stored at −23 °C for potential future analysis.

Human landing catches
Following ethical approval and consent, the host-seeking Aedes collections were carried out over four samplings each year, for three years, and distributed as follows: January "short rainy season accompanied by a short dry season"; June "dry season"; August "early rainy season"; October "rainy season".During each sampling campaign, collectors were supervised inside and outside each house to ensure the smooth running of capture activities.Supervisors responded to collectors' concerns and made unannounced visits to each capture station to ensure the work's quality was in accordance with the instructions.
Human landing catches (HLC) were used to collect Aedes spp.adults during the day [7].At the study site, mosquito collections were carried out both indoors and outdoors, with a first group of collectors working from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and replaced by a second group from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.At each collection point, a bare-legged, barefoot volunteer served as bait, collecting mosquitoes using hemolysis tubes.Mosquito samples were then transported to the morphological identification room of the Bioecology and Vector Control Laboratory for morphological identification.

Quality control description
Mosquitoes were identified using keys made available in the literature [6] by an entomologist experienced in the identification of Central African Aedes.Once digitized, the data was validated using the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) validator tool available from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) [8].

RESULTS
A total of 6,943 observations (summarized in Table 1) were reported using larval capture and HLC methods between 2020 and 2022 (Figure 2).The HLC collecting method was responsible for the collection of 4,638 adult mosquitoes, while the larval sampling yielded 2,305 individuals.Ae. albopictus was the most abundant species in the studied region, with 6,358 individuals, whereas we recorded 578 Ae. aegypti individuals.Only seven individuals could not be identified to the species level.

RE-USE POTENTIAL
The results of this study will provide important information for future basic and advanced studies on the ecology and phenology of these vectors, as well as on vector dynamics after an epidemic period.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map of the Funa Valley, showing entomological collection points (North, South, East and West).