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Assessing mosquito biodiversity is important for disease surveillance and ecosystem health assessments. Such studies are particularly needed in regions like the Caribbean, which has experienced a series of recent mosquito borne disease outbreaks but received little attention regarding its invertebrate biodiversity. Here, we report on results from a mosquito survey on the Dutch Leeward Islands (Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Saba), carried out in April and October 2018, which is the first integrative survey since those conducted by Van der Kuyp (1947) and Wagenaar Hummelinck (1949). Moreover, we present a novel key for adults and fourth instar larvae of the mosquitoes of the Dutch Leeward Islands. Overall, eleven species were recorded, eight on Sint Maarten, five on Saba and two on Sint Eustatius. Two new potential disease vectors, Culex nigripalpus and Aedes taeniorhynchus, were recorded on Sint Maarten. One previously recorded species, Cx. habilitator, was not retrieved from any of the islands, which is further discussed in the paper. Species indicative of natural forest which previously occurred on all three islands were absent from Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten but still present on Saba. In contrast, species indicative of human inhabitation, Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus, were highly abundant on Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius and present in low numbers on Saba. Overall, the results of this study emphasize the importance of biodiversity surveys and indicate that frequent mosquito inventories may contribute to a better understanding of mosquito community composition and distribution of potential vector species.

How can nature be protected and biodiversity be preserved while the threats of zoonotic diseases are minimised? Expanding nature areas and creating ecological networks across Europe is not only beneficial for wildlife, but also for the pathogens they carry. A prominent case is Lyme borreliosis, which has risen from relative obscurity to become a major public health problem in Europe. The Dutch research program 'Shooting the messenger' took a 'One Health' approach aiming at the development of sustainable measures for the prevention of Lyme borreliosis. An interdisciplinary network of researchers, public health experts, and nature managers gained and shared knowledge in the ecological processes of ticks, Lyme spirochaetes and their vertebrate hosts as well as in the human epidemiology of tick bites and Lyme borreliosis. These new insights, together with new intervention methods and strategies, are described in this book.

Ticks are important vectors of a large number of pathogenic organisms. In the Netherlands, Ixodes ricinus is the most abundant tick species and the main vector for several Borrelia species that may cause Lyme borreliosis. Many chemicals have been developed for tick control. In this chapter, a few commonly used acaricides are discussed with the main aim to assess whether they could be both effective and environmentally safe enough for tick control in the field through application on large mammals. This method is currently still at the experimental stage and only limitedly applied. The focus was on amitraz, permethrin, flumethrin, deltamethrin and ivermectin. After a qualitative comparison of the pros and cons, it was concluded that the pyrethroids flumethrin and deltamethrin are potentially the most useful, despite their high toxicity to various other animals in the environment. Both compounds act as contact-acaricides and are not easily leached in the environment. Environmental hazards can therefore be minimised if they are applied correctly and thoughtful, and contamination of the aquatic environment is avoided. Nevertheless, all synthetic acaricides have a number of serious downsides and, when considering using them in field situations, the benefits always need to be weighed against all costs involved. More environmentally-friendly alternatives are being developed of which vaccines against ticks seem most promising.