A total of 6,500 mosquitoes were identified during a two-year survey (1999-2001) in Lebanon, and these belonged to twelve species: Culex pipiens, Cx. laticinctus, Cx. mimeticus, Cx. hortensis, Cx. judaicus, Aedes aegypti, Ae. cretinus, Ochlerotatus caspius, Oc. geniculatus, Oc. pulchritarsis, Culiseta longiareolata and Anopheles claviger. Culex pipiens was the most predominant species in Lebano...

British Culex pipiens complex [Culex pipiens sensu lato) mosquito distribution, abundance, and potential for disease transmission are intimately linked to their environment. Pond and lake dyes that block light to restrict algal photosynthesis are a relatively new product assumed to be an environmentally friendly since they are based on food dyes. Their use in urban garden ponds raises questions...

Mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex are important vectors of West Nile virus in the United States. We examined the genetic variations of Cx. pipiens mosquitoes from Chicago, Illinois that were determined to be principally ornithophilic but exhibited a relatively higher inclination for mammalian hosts including humans. Microsatellite analysis of 10 polymorphic markers was performed on 346 en...

Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes, the primary summer vectors of West Nile virus (family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus, WNV), also may serve as overwintering reservoir hosts. Detection of WN viral RNA from larvae hatched from eggs deposited by infected females during late summer and fall may provide evidence for the vertical passage of WNV to overwintering cohorts. To determine whether ver...

The morphologically similar Culex pipiens sensu lato and Cx. torrentium are sympatric in much of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe. Since morphological separation of females of these mosquitoes is extremely difficult and uncertain, diagnosis depends upon time consuming microscopic examination of male hypopygial characters. Consequently the possible, or even probable, occurrence of Cx. torren...