The occurrence of Culex (Lophoceraomyia) pilifermoralis, Cx. (Lop.) wilfredi, and Heizmannia (Heizmannia) chengi is reported for the first time from India from mosquito collections made in the Jeypore hills, Orissa. In collections made during October 1998 from 10 locations, 74 species belonging to 12 genera and 20 subgenera were recorded. Larvae of 40 species were obtained from different larval habitats like bamboo, leaf axils, fallen logs, paddy fields, ponds, ground pools, rock pools, streams, and tree holes. Together with the 14 anopheline species from earlier records, this report brings to 88 the number of mosquito species in the Jeypore hills.

The pupa of Culex declarator was partially described and illustrated by Lane. This species was recently discovered in Florida for the first time and a series of individual rearings have resulted in a number of pupae and an opportunity to redescribe it fully, with a complete illustration. Amendment to the key to the Culex pupae of the eastern United States is provided.

In this first paper of a series on mosquitoes of the mangrove forests of India, details of mosquito species recorded in Bhitarkanika, Orissa, are presented. Forty-three species of mosquitoes belonging to 21 subgenera and 13 genera, Aedes, Anopheles, Armigeres, Coquillettidia, Culex, Ficalbia, Heizmannia, Lutzia, Mansonia, Ochlerotatus, Toxorhynchites, Uranotaenia, and Verrallina, were recorded. Predominant larval habitat was the tree holes, from which 15 species were taken. Adults were mostly found resting in crab holes, tree holes, and hoof prints in the forest area and on walls in the guesthouse area. About 14 species were caught in light traps, while 19 species landed on humans for feeding. Ae. franciscoi and Oc. feegradei are 2 new country records for India. Ae. cancricomes and Cx. perplexus, known only from Andaman Islands of India, are new records for mainland India.

Mosquitoes of 19 species belonging to 9 subgenera and 6 genera, Aedes, Aedeomyia, Anopheles, Armigeres, Culex, and Mansonia, were recorded in Sundarbans mangrove forest in West Bengal, India. With 6 and 5 species, respectively, the 2 genera Culex and Anopheles were found to be more diverse while less than 3 species were recorded in the other 4 genera. Adults were mainly collected resting on walls in the guesthouse, tree holes in the forest, landing on humans in the guesthouse, and in the forest, and in light traps. Larvae were obtained from tree holes in the forest. The list of species recorded is not conclusive due to the restriction in access to most parts of the mangroves due to the presence of tigers. The occurrence of the urban species Cx. quinquefasciatus within the Sajnakhali sanctuary is indicative of the need to monitor environmental changes that result with the introduction of man-made facilities.

Before August 1998, in the Khanh Phu commune (central Vietnam), Anopheles minimus s.l. individuals were identified as species A and showed the typical species A wing form. After a significant decrease over the 3 years 1999–2001, an increase in 2002 of An. minimus s.l. possessing a different wing pattern was observed. To determine the specific status of the An. minimus species collected in 2002 and to follow changes in the species composition, an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction was applied to samples collected from 1993 to 2002. This study reports the first record of An. minimus C in central Vietnam and, since 1998, a significant reduction of An. minimus A that coincided with the wide use of permethrin-treated bednets. This change in anopheline composition may have important consequences on malaria transmission. This work shows that the geographic distribution of malaria vectors in southeast Asia is only partially known and highlights the importance of species identification for understanding changes in the vector composition as a result of selective vector control.

Although the 1st published record of Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus in Georgia (Rabun County) occurred in 2004, we report here a 2002 collection and identification in Fulton County, Georgia (metro Atlanta). The finding of Oc. j. japonicus in Fulton County represents the most southern record of this species in the United States to date. Also, subsequent collections in North Carolina and 4 additional counties in northeast Georgia are reported.

Anopheles sinensis and An. pullus, the 2 predominant anopheline mosquito species in Korea, are major malaria vectors. Their morphological similarity makes them difficult to distinguish, and their taxonomic relationship remains unclear. Kanda and Oguma produced fertile F₁ An. sinensis × An. pullus hybrids, suggesting a conspecific relationship. However, our recent internal transcribed spacer 2 DNA sequence comparison of these taxa revealed 32.9% divergence, suggesting that An. sinensis and An. pullus may be distinct species. In the present study, we reassessed the relationship of An. sinensis and An. pullus in hybridization experiments. Laboratory-raised isofemale lines of An. sinensis form B and An. pullus form A and B were reciprocally crossed. The 3 isofemale lines were established from fully engorged females caught from the wild and morphologically identified as An. sinensis or An. pullus. The isofemale lines represented 3 distinct metaphase karyotypes: An. sinensis form B (X, Y₂) and An. pullus form A (X₁, Y₁) and form B (X₂, Y₂). The F₁ hybrid larvae showed low viability and completely asynaptic salivary gland polytene chromosomes. The subset of F₁ hybrids that developed to adults showed sex-ratio distortion; ovarian follicles developed abnormally in females, and males suffered atrophy of accessory glands and testes. These results strongly suggest that the Korean morphological species An. sinensis and An. pullus are biological species, separated by complete postzygotic reproductive isolation.

Genus Finlaya Theobald is characterized based on the morphology of females, female genitalia, males, male genitalia, pupae, and 4th-stage larvae. Distinctive characters of the genus are discussed and included species are listed. Finlaya kochi, the type species, is described in detail and a syntype female is selected as neotype. An extensive list of previous literature pertaining to the genus is provided.

The presence of mosquito species breeding in agricultural “bunker tires” on dairy farms in New York state was evaluated. Twelve species of mosquitoes (Aedes vexans, Anopheles barberi, An. punctipennis, An. perplexens, Culex pipiens pipiens, Cx. restuans, Cx. salinarius, Cx. territans, Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis, Ochlerotatus atropalpus, Oc. japonicus japonicus, and Oc. triseriatus) were collected from 8 New York state dairy farms in 2001 and from 17 dairy farms in 2002. All but 2 of these species have been found naturally infected with arboviruses and could be important vectors affecting human and animal health. Because of the potential public and animal health importance of the invasive species Oc. j. japonicus, active surveillance to identify breeding sites and distribution of this mosquito is essential. In 2001, Oc. j. japonicus was recovered from 5 of 8 central New York dairy farms surveyed. In 2002, Oc. j. japonicus was recovered from 4 of the same dairy farms plus an additional dairy out of 5 surveyed. This species appears to be established on dairy farms in the south, central, and eastern regions of New York state, with greatest abundance in the southeastern region. A single Oc. j. japonicus larva was collected from the northern region on the final sampling date in September 2002. Our data demonstrate that agricultural tire habitats can be productive breeding sites for arbovirus vectors. As a consequence, these habitats should not be ignored in vector control and surveillance programs.

To understand the potential for facultative sugar feeding by Aedes aegypti, an important vector of dengue viruses, we evaluated seasonal and villagewide variation in sugar feeding during high– and low–dengue transmission seasons (rainy and dry seasons, respectively) in the Mae Sot region of Thailand. These seasons in Thailand are represented by different periods of flowering plant phenology. Although overall sugar feeding among female and male mosquitoes was low (ranging from 0.60 to 7.53 μg fructose per mosquito), sugar feeding among females was significantly greater during the dry, low–dengue transmission season. This variation could reflect specific preferences for flowering plants that were abundant in and around village homes during the dry season, such as Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, and Euphorbia.

Villavicencio, the capital city of the Department of Meta, Colombia, is at high risk for the urbanization of malaria because of the region's ecological conditions, as well as the permanent presence of infected human populations arriving from rural areas. From August to November 2002 and in April 2003, anopheline collections were undertaken in the area. Isofamilies were obtained from 331 wild females, which were then recorded according to their abundance as follows: Anopheles marajoara, Anopheles rangeli, Anopheles braziliensis, Anopheles darlingi, and Anopheles apicimacula. Anopoheles darlingi showed the highest biting activity (3.0) between 1800 and 1900 h. Forty-five breeding places were sampled, 64% of which were fish ponds, 6.7% flooded meadows, and 6.7% drainpipes, with these being the most representative locations. All sampled breeding sites were positive for anophelines. Anopheles marajoara could play an important role as an auxiliary vector in Villavicencio's urban area. Control measures should be aimed at weeding the marginal areas around fish ponds and at evaluating the use of impregnated bed-nets.

Two recent outbreaks of locally acquired, mosquito-transmitted malaria in Virginia in 1998 and 2002 demonstrate the continued risk of endemic mosquito-transmitted malaria in heavily populated areas of the eastern United States. Increasing immigration, growth in global travel, and the presence of competent anopheline vectors throughout the eastern United States contribute to the increasing risk of malaria importation and transmission. On August 23 and 25, 2002, Plasmodium vivax malaria was diagnosed in 2 teenagers in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deemed these cases to be locally acquired because of the lack of risk factors for malaria, such as international travel, blood transfusion, organ transplantation, or needle sharing. The patients lived ~0.5 mi apart; however, 1 patient reported numerous visits to friends who lived directly across the street from the other patient. Two Anopheles quadrimaculatus s.l. female pools collected in Loudoun County, Virginia, and 1 An. punctipennis female pool collected in Fairfax County, Virginia, tested positive for P. vivax 210 with the VecTest^™ panel assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, 2 An. quadrimaculatus s.l. female pools collected in Montgomery, Maryland, tested positive for P. vivax 210. The CDC confirmed these initial results with the circumsporozoite ELISA. The authors believe that this is the 1st demonstration of Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes collected in association with locally acquired human malaria in the United States since the current national malaria surveillance system began in 1957.

Paucity of data on host-feeding patterns and behavior of 43 mosquito species that are reported as suspected West Nile virus (WN) vectors has limited full evaluation of their vectorial capacity. Recent studies addressing this issue need additional confirmation and should also be expanded to include collections of species or subpopulations attracted to humans. We used 4 types of collection methods to collect mosquitoes, including omnidirectional Fay–Prince traps, Centers for Disease Control–type light traps, gravid traps, and human-landing collections. Mosquitoes were collected during 2 full WN transmission seasons in 2001 and 2002, at 9 different sites across Delaware. We collected from various habitats, including salt marshes, brackish water areas, woodlands, a tire dump, a racetrack, and a mushroom farm. Blood-meal analyses were performed on parous mosquitoes by using a sandwich-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We tested primarily for 5 common host species, including rabbits, dogs, deer, horses, and chickens. We obtained substantial host-feeding data from 8 mosquito species. The most mammalophilic species were Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Coquillettidia perturbans, and Aedes albopictus, whereas the most ornithophilic species was Culex pipiens. Aedes albopictus was the most anthropophilic species, whereas Ae. vexans and Cq. perturbans exhibited relatively low attraction to humans. Culex salinarius was the species with the most diverse host-feeding activity. Based on feeding behavior, Cx. pipiens and Cx. salinarius appear to be the most likely bridge vectors. Other species may have opportunities to be bridge vectors under special circumstances, as discussed in the paper.

A 3-year study (2000–2002) in southeastern Wisconsin was conducted to assess the effects of Bacillus sphaericus applied for mosquito control on nontarget wetland invertebrates. The experimental design consisted of control and treatment sites (that were applied by helicopter with Vectolex^® CG), each in 2 vegetation habitat types: reed canary grass marsh (Phalaris arundinacea) and cattail marsh (Typha spp.). In each of these areas, a predetermined number of timed (30-sec) D-frame aquatic net samples containing vegetation, detritus, and invertebrates were collected 1 day before spraying and 72 h after spraying to detect for effects. We examined and compared 5 bioassessment measures to determine if there was an effect of B. sphaericus on nontarget organisms during each of the sampling years. The metrics tested were 1) mean taxa richness (the mean number of all taxa), 2) mean diversity (combines taxa richness and abundances in a summary statistic; i.e., Shannon Index [H′]), 3) Diptera richness (minus mosquitoes) as a proportion of all other taxa richness (Diptera/others richness), 4) Diptera abundance (minus mosquitoes) as a proportion of all other invertebrate abundance (Diptera/others abundance), and 5) functional group changes in percent collector–gatherers, collector–filterers, scrapers, shredders, and predators. When Vectolex was applied during 6 treatments at the labeled dosage rate in the above habitats in Brookfield, WI, no detrimental effects to nontarget organisms could be attributed to this microbial insecticide. Much of the variation in the control vs. treatment and pre vs. post plots was attributed to factors other than the effects of B. sphaericus on nontarget organisms, such as the time of sampling, natural variation that occurs in such diverse habitats as canary grass and cattail marshes, and water depth, which varied among years.

Vitamin B is often recommended in the popular media as a systemic repellent against mosquitoes. This information is especially prevalent on the Web. The results of a small number of published studies suggested that vitamin B complex supplements are not effective as repellents, but these studies were limited by the use of very few human subjects and only 1 species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti. We extended this work with the use of larger samples of human subjects and with Anopheles stephensi as the test organism. We tested whether ingestion of vitamin B supplements under various regimens affected the attractiveness of volatile skin components transferred to glass vials. Although there was substantial and consistent individual variation in attractiveness, we found no effect of vitamin B supplementation.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of single Mosquito Magnet^® traps to consistently reduce biting midge populations in a coastal northwest Florida residential neighborhood. Midge abundance from 5 backyards, each with a Mosquito Magnet trap, was compared with 3 backyards without traps (controls). Midge populations were sampled once weekly for 24 h in each backyard by using a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suction trap baited with carbon dioxide. In addition, midge accumulations from Mosquito Magnet traps were collected once a week at the time of CDC trap operation while biting midge populations were manually sampled from each backyard by using a “sand fly bat” (i.e., a wire-handle flyswatter fitted with a 10.5-cm² plastic 14 × 14 mesh screen). Eighteen midge species were collected during the study but the majority (99.9%) collected from all backyards were (in descending order): Culicoides mississippiensis, C. furens, and C. melleus. Midge populations from CDC traps in yards with Mosquito Magnets were significantly lower on 2 of 45 wk (March 28 and April 3) when compared with control backyards. Weekly reduction attributed to Mosquito Magnets was not consistent and ranged from 4.2 to 85.3%. No significant difference was found in mean midge abundance on sand fly bats from yards with Mosquito Magnets compared with control yards. On the average, cooperators with Mosquito Magnet traps reported that their seasonal level of midge reduction (as related to a monthly ranked degree of annoyance) was variable and often not consistently below their threshold.

Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans vexans has become widely distributed in the Australasian and Oceanic Islands zoogeographic regions, and in this paper, we describe the 1st confirmed report of Ae. vexans vexans in Australia. A total of 45 adult individuals were collected around the town of Kununurra in the northeast Kimberley region of Western Australia during the late wet seasons between 1996 and 2003. The majority (84%) was collected at trap sites in or near the Ord Stage I Irrigation Area. Aedes vexans vexans was a minor component of the mosquito population, comprising <0.1% of the total number of adults collected during the study period. The absence of Ae. vexans vexans in earlier collections suggests that it has been recently introduced into northeast Kimberley, most likely by wind currents from the Indonesian archipelago or on occasional light aircraft arriving in Kununurra from nearby islands. The collection of adult Ae. vexans vexans every year since 2001 could indicate that this mosquito has become established in the Kununurra environs, possibly facilitated by the presence of year-round breeding sites created by the irrigation area. Encephalitogenic flaviviruses have been isolated from this species in North America, Europe, and Taiwan, and the vector competence of Ae. vexans vexans for arboviruses prevalent in northern Western Australia, particularly the flaviviruses Murray Valley encephalitis and Kunjin, should be investigated.

A single adult female of Anopheles (Anopheles) punctipennis (Say) was collected in a New Jersey light trap in the port area of Honolulu, Oahu, HI, on December 8, 2003. This is the 1st record of a wild-collected, intact Anopheles mosquito, and the 1st detection of An. punctipennis in the Hawaiian Islands. Extensive larval surveillance and additional light trapping in the area of the collection site indicate that populations of this species have not become established on Oahu. The distribution of An. punctipennis largely coincides with the distribution of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America. Although An. punctipennis is not an important vector of WNV, Culex quinquefasciatus and Cx. tarsalis are important vectors of WNV and occur in areas of North America with active WNV transmission. Culex quinquefasciatus is established in Hawaii, and Cx. tarsalis has been detected on multiple occasions by quarantine. Increased quarantine inspections, disinsection of airline cargo holds, enhanced vector surveillance, and the development of sanitary corridors around airports and port facilities are necessary to reduce the introduction of vectors and pathogens.

The spelling of specific names for a species of Psorophora and 4 species of Verrallina are corrected to correspond with the gender of the corresponding genus. An explanation is given for treating Udaya as masculine, rather than feminine as indicated in A Catalog of the Mosquitoes of the World.

A synthetic blend of chemicals comprising volatiles released by the human body has been shown to be an effective attractant for female Aedes aegypti in olfactometer bioassays with laboratory-reared mosquitoes. We report the laboratory evaluation of Ae. aegypti response to a synthetic blend tested with 4 types of mosquito traps (CDC model 512, CDC model 1012, CFG, and Fay–Prince traps). Aedes aegypti females were attracted significantly by the blend. The higher release rate of attractant (320.2 ± 10.71 mg/h) more efficiently attracted mosquitoes than the lower release rate (42.0 ± 2.3 mg/h). Although both the Fay–Prince and CFG traps caught higher number of mosquitoes than the other traps, only the CFG trap caught a statistically significant greater number of mosquitoes. The results suggest that the synthetic blend is effective in attracting Ae. aegypti females under controlled laboratory conditions (i.e., a closed system). Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of this blend in baited traps under field conditions.

The effectiveness of the upstream point treatment by AQUABAC® Biolarvicide (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, Biological Larvicide Aqueous Suspension) against Culex quinquefasciatus Say in slow-flowing water ditches has been evaluated in St. Augustine Beach, St. Johns County, FL. The upstream point treatment by AQUABAC (liquid) at 0.5 liter/acre provided significant levels of larval control of Cx. quinquefasciatus for all sections of the downstream for 9 days. The upstream point treatment method by larvicides may have potential for use, minimize environmental impacts, and reduce cost and labor in mosquito-control operation for slow-flowing water ditches.