Abstract Background Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus are the most important vector mosquito species globally and are capable of transmitting various viral diseases, such as dengue fever, zika virus disease, and chikungunya fever. Although they overlap in terms of ecological niches and geographical distribution, their virus carriage and transmission capacities differ significantly. Metavirome studies can provide new perspectives for understanding these differences. Methods In this study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to analyze the epidemiologically significant metaviromes of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus on Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula, China. A bioinformatics analysis pipeline was used to compare the viral compositions of the two mosquito species. Results In the sympatric areas, 250 viral species from 60 families were annotated to Ae. aegypti at the read level, whereas 406 vial species from 66 families were annotated to Ae. albopictus at the read level, revealing significant differences in the metaviromes of the two mosquito species. Notably, Ae. albopictus exhibited significantly greater viral diversity than Ae. aegypti ( p < 0.05). The 50 viruses with the greatest abundance in two mosquito species were selected for data analysis, revealing 64% viral similarity, with 32 common viruses and 18 distinct viruses between the two species, although the relative abundances of each virus differed notably. Phasi Charoen-like Phasivirus (PCLV) from Phenuiviridae showed the highest relative abundance in all Ae. aegypti sample pools, whereas Orthophasmavirus barstukasense ( Phasmaviridae ), Gihfavirus pelohabitans ( Steitzviridae ), and unclassified Wenzhou sobemo-like virus 4 (WSLV4) predominated in different Ae. albopictus sample pools. Conclusions The metavirome compositions of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in the sympatric areas of Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula differed significantly. The viral diversity of Ae. albopictus was significantly higher than that of Ae. aegypti , and notable differences in viral composition and abundance were observed between the two species. However, the 50 most abundant viruses detected in both mosquito species also exhibited a degree of similarity. These findings support further research into the viral compositions of these two Aedes species. Moreover, analyzing these distinct viral compositions aids understanding of the vector capacity and vector competence of these mosquitoes, which will provide theoretical support for vector control efforts on Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula. Graphical Abstract
Zhao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.