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Dengue Fever Mosquito

Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1762)

Brief Summary

provided by EOL authors

Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a dangerous vector of viruses such as those that cause dengue fever, Chikungunya, yellow fever and other diseases. This small mosquito originated in Africa but is now found in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.It has white and black stripes on its body and legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the thorax.

Only the female bites mammal hosts for blood, which she needs to mature her eggs. The CDC traveler's page on preventing dengue fever suggests using mosquito repellents that contain DEET (N, N-diethylmetatoluamide, between 20% to 30% concentration, but not more), and also suggests care be taken to wear thick, long-sleeved clothing, mosquito nettings over the bed, and spraying with the insecticide permethrin.

The genome of Aedes aegypti was the second mosquito genus to be sequenced in full, in 2007. The genus Aedes is undergoing reorganization according to recent morphological analyses by Reinert et al. This would change the name of Aedes aegypti to Stegomyia aegypti. Because this species is of great medical and public health importance, this proposed name change is very controversial and some scientists are choosing to ignore the reclassification; at least one scientific journal, the Journal of Medical Entomology, has officially encouraged authors dealing with mosquitoes in the subfamily Aedinae to continue to use the traditional names unless they have particular reasons for doing so. (Editors of The Journal of Medical Entomology; Polaszek 2006; Weaver 2005; Wikipedia 2011; Wikipedia 2011b; WRBU)

References

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Dana Campbell
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Comprehensive Description

provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus)

The only specimens of the yellow-fever mosquito that I have seen from Dominica were collected by August Busck in 1905. The Bredin-Archbold-Smithsonian Survey failed to find this species, which undoubtedly was one of the commonest pest species on the island at one time. Soper (1965) lists Dominica as one of the islands still with Aedes aegypti in 1961. This failure to find it may be due either to an eradication campaign or to not searching in buildings for adults or in artificial containers for larvae.

This domesticated mosquito, important as the vector of urban yellow fever and dengue, has been so publicized that further remarks on its biology are superfluous.

DOMINICA RECORD.—Reared from larvae in water barrel on sugar estate out in country, 28 July 1905 (Busck),2 ♀ .

13. Culex (Culex) declarator Dyar and Knab

Culex declarator is a very widely distributed neotropical species with seven currently recognized synonyms (Bram, 1967). Originally described from Trinidad, it is known from Texas to Peru and Brazil but records south of this probably refer to C. bidens Dyar. It has been collected as far north as St. Thomas in the Lesser Antilles, but it is not known from the Greater Antilles. Two of the synonyms, dictator Dyar and Knab and vindicator Dyar and Knab, came from Dominica.

This species breeds in small accumulations of water usually having a rather high vegetative organic content. These may be tree holes, artificial containers, and ground pools of all sorts, in either sunshine or shade. The adults appear to prefer animals other than man, although they will feed on man and invade his habitations under jungle conditions. It has been found infected with St. Louis Encephalitis virus in Trinidad.

DOMINICA RECORDS.—In cocoa pods, rotten, stinking, half solid water, 28 July 1905 (Busck) 4 ♂ , 1 ♀ (type series of vindicator); at bottom of rather deep (30 feet) cave in mountain side, clear sulphurous water, 28 July 1905 (Busck), 5 ♂ , 1 ♀ (type series of dictator); Batali River near Colihaut, 5 May 1966 (Gagné), 1 ♂ .
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bibliographic citation
Stone, Alan. 1969. "Bredin-Archbold-Smithsonian biological survey of Dominica: the mosquitoes of Dominica (Diptera: Culicidae)." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.16

Culex elegans

provided by wikipedia EN

Culex elegans is a species of mosquitoes in the subfamily Culicinae. Insectoid.info treats the name as a separated species, whereas Encyclopedia of Life lists it as a synonym for Aedes aegypti. Ian Macdonald described it in 1899 as not associated with malaria.[2]

It is described from Italy and Spain.

References

  1. ^ Notizie preventive sulle zanzare Italiane. V. Nota preventiva (1) Descrizione di una specie nuova. Zanzara elegante, Culex elegans, n. sp. Ficalbi, Eugenio (1889), Bullettino della Società Entomologica Italiana. XXI, pages 95–100
  2. ^ MacDonald, I (1899). "Mosquitos in Relation to Malaria". British Medical Journal. 2 (2020): 699. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.2020.699. PMC 2412234. PMID 20758666.

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Culex elegans: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Culex elegans is a species of mosquitoes in the subfamily Culicinae. Insectoid.info treats the name as a separated species, whereas Encyclopedia of Life lists it as a synonym for Aedes aegypti. Ian Macdonald described it in 1899 as not associated with malaria.

It is described from Italy and Spain.

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