Culex annulirostris
| Culex annulirostris | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Adult female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Culicidae |
| Genus: | Culex |
| Subgenus: | Culex |
| Species: | C. annulirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Culex annulirostris Skuse, 1889 | |
| Synonyms | |
Culex annulirostris, commonly known as the common banded mosquito, is a species of mosquito in the genus Culex, native to parts of Oceania and southeast Asia. It is a vector for a number of pathogens and is regarded as a serious pest species throughout its range.
Description
Adults medium-sized. Body dark creamy brown with narrow bronze and gold scales on scutum, not arranged in a distinct pattern. Proboscis dark-scaled with pale band on central third (broader than that of the otherwise similar Cx. sitiens[1]). Legs dark with mottled pale scales. Tarsi dark with narrow pale bands basally, except tarsus 5, which is entirely dark. Wings dark-scaled. Abdominal tergites and sternites dark-scaled with pale bands basally, often extending to a medial point on tergites.[2][3]
Taxonomy
Frederick Askew Skuse described Cx. annulirostris in 1889 from specimens collected in the Blue Mountains and Berowra, New South Wales.[4] The species name is derived from the Latin words annulus ('ring') and rostrum ('bill').
Evidence suggests that Cx. annulirostris may represent a species complex, consisting of an unknown number of cryptic species that differ in vectorial capacity.[2]
Distribution
Culex annulirostris is native to Australia (mainland only), Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.[1]
Ecology
Breeding takes place anywhere there is standing water, from swamps and ponds to all kinds of artificial puddles—irrigation channels, bamboo stumps, cacao shells, the bottoms of canoes. The water can be clean or polluted, in sun or shade, and fresh or brackish.[1]
The adult mosquitoes are active between spring and late autumn. During this time they appear most commonly at dawn and dusk, though they can also be active during the day and indoors. They can travel 5–10 km from their place of birth and feed on mammals and birds.[1] Like all blood-feeding mosquitoes, it is only the female that feeds on blood as it needs to consume protein for reproduction. The male only feeds on nectar.[5]
Pest status
Culex annulirostris is an important vector for a number of arboviruses, including Murray Valley encephalitis virus, Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Kunjin virus and Japanese encephalitis, as well as dog heartworm and the roundworm Wuchereria bancrofti in New Guinea.[1] It may carry myxomatosis.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Norbert Becker; Dusan Petric; Marija Zgomba; Clive Boase; Minoo Madon; Christine Dahl; Achim Kaiser (2010). Mosquitoes and Their Control. New York, New York: Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 365–67. ISBN 9783540928744.
- 1 2 Webb, Cameron; Doggett, Stephen; Russel, Richard (2016). A Guide to Mosquitoes of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9780643100305.
- ↑ Russell, R.C. (1996). "Culex annulirostris". Department of Medical Entomology. University of Sydney. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ Skuse, Frederick A. Askew (1889). "Diptera of Australia. Part V.—The Culicidae". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 2 (3): 1717–64 [1737]. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
- ↑ Russell, R.C. (1996). "Mosquito Photos". Department of Medical Entomology. University of Sydney. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
External links
Media related to Culex annulirostris at Wikimedia Commons