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Culex quinquefasciatus better known as the Southern House Mosquito

Introduction

The Culex quinquefasciatus, also known as the Southern House Mosquito, is a nighttime mosquito that is commonly found throughout the tropics and warm temperate regions due to reproductive capabilities. This species is native to the lowlands of West Africa but migrated to the new world through merchant and slave ships. Nowadays it continues to spread throughout the world by passenger airplane cabins. It is known as being a nuisance biter and contributes to economic loss on some smaller islands such as the Caribbean, that relies on tourism. One of the advantages of this mosquito is its considerable contribution to genetic research due to having a completely sequenced genome and a number of protein coding genes.

Life Cycle/Nutrition

The Southern House Mosquito is extremely small in length and measures to vary from 3.96 to 4.35 mm (Hill, 2019). This measurement is similar in size to a point of a pencil. They tend to be a light brown color and blend and thrive in lower temperatures of 28 o C. The life cycle of this mosquito is different from others due to females requiring more nutrient-rich meals compared to meals. According to the University of Florida, “Males survive only on sugar meals, while the females will take multiple blood meals” (Hill, 2019). The blood meals contain proper carbohydrates so that they can survive more than 5 days and the females can produce each synchronous egg batch. Their main source of blood nutrients are 71% birds, 26% mammals, and 3% humans (Farajollahi, 2011). Due to the biting of birds, there was a transmittance of avian pathogens to humans which increased the number of human diseases.

Habitat/ Predation

In regard to habitat, the Southern House Mosquito can live anywhere but thrives best in tropical and subtropical non-arid areas due to their eggs not being drought resistant. Non-arid areas consist of places that have enough water for things to grow and are not dry or barren. Particularly in the United States, the Southern House Mosquito is heavily populated in Florida due to the lower latitude of temperature (Hill, 2019). Not only do they prefer warmer climates, but most people find them located in larval habitats such as ditches, ground pools, tree holes, rock holes, etc. As far as natural enemies, the Southern House Mosquito does not have many besides Odonates, which are dragonflies and damselflies. It is very common for species similar in nature to be enemies of each other (Dennis,2022). Majority of the mosquitoes' enemies tend to feed on their larvae rather than the actual insect itself.

Reproduction

This species of mosquitoes reproduces through sexual reproduction and are capable of laying over 100 eggs per raft which hatch within 24-30 hours are being positioned. The female is responsible for laying the eggs during the night in nutrient-rich standing water or the eggs will not be able to hatch if the water evaporates (Hill, 2019). On the other hand, the males simply survive on only sugar meals compared to females who have to eat multiple blood meals to increase the chances of producing viable offspring. There are many factors that play into the development of larvae such as temperature, nutrition, and population density. Even though most females produce more than 100 eggs, they do not have a long lifespan which tends to only last about a month in lower temperatures of 28 o C.

Control/ Prevention

For controlling the invasiveness of the Southern House Mosquito pesticides tend to work best to prevent the spread of them. They are nighttime mosquitoes so by wearing long-sleeves during the night and using insect repellent tends to keep them away. Also, by decreasing their food supply of birds and smaller blood insects it controls their population. These adult mosquitoes require blood to survive because it has proper carbohydrates, and they would not be able to survive beyond 5 days (Vrzal, 2022). Scientists tend to analyze their population growth through dip surveys of all “larval habitats and selective trapping of adults using mechanized gravid traps baited with infusions of grass, manure or other organic matter” (Reiter, 2022). Majority of the time this survey analyzes the exact breeding location of the mosquito.

References

Dennis, A LaPointe, 2022. Culex quinquefasciatus (southern house mosquito). CABI Compendium. Retrieved from Culex quinquefasciatus (southern house mosquito) | CABI Compendium (cabidigitallibrary.org)

Farajollahi A, Fonseca DM, Kramer LD, Kilpatrick AM, 2011. "Bird biting" mosquitoes and human disease: a review of the role of Culex pipiens

Hill, Stephanie, 2019. Common name: southern house mosquito. Featured Creatures Entomology and Nematology. Retrieved from southern house mosquito - Culex quinquefasciatus Say (ufl.edu)

Reiter P, 1983. A portable battery-powered trap for collecting gravid Culex mosquitoes. Mosquito News, 43(4):496-498

Vrzal EM, Allan SA, Hahn DA, 2010. Amino acids in nectar enhance longevity of female Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. Journal of Insect Physiology, 56(11):1659-1664. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221910