Résumé
Background : Since its first record in urban areas of Central-Africa in the 2000s, the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus , has spread throughout the region, including in remote villages in forested areas, causing outbreaks of Aedes -borne diseases, such as dengue and chikungunya. Such invasion might enhance Ae . albopictus interactions with wild animals in forest ecosystems and favor the spillover of zoonotic arboviruses to humans. The aim of this study was to monitor Ae . albopictus spread in the wildlife reserve of La Lopé National Park (Gabon), and evaluate the magnitude of the rainforest ecosystem colonization. Methodology : From 2014 to 2018, we used ovitraps, larval surveys, BG-Sentinel traps, and human landing catches along an anthropization gradient from La Lopé village to the natural forest in the Park. Conclusions : We detected Ae . albopictus in gallery forest up to 15 km away from La Lopé village. However, Ae . albopictus was significantly more abundant at anthropogenic sites than in less anthropized areas. The number of eggs laid by Ae . albopictus decreased progressively with the distance from the forest fringe up to 200m inside the forest. Our results suggested that in forest ecosystems, high Ae . albopictus density is mainly observed at interfaces between anthropized and natural forested environments. Additionally, our data suggested that Ae . albopictus may act as a bridge vector of zoonotic pathogens between wild and anthropogenic compartments.