Lysinibacillus sphaericus strains belonging the antigenic group H5a5b produce spores with larvicidal activity against larvae of Culex mosquitoes. C7, a new isolated strain, which presents similar biochemical characteristics and Bin toxins in their spores as the reference strain 2362, was, however, more active against larvae of Culex mosquitoes. The contribution of the surface layer protein (S-l...

Three California Culex species previously identified as efficient laboratory vectors of West Nile (WN) virus were tested for their capability to vertically transmit WN virus. Wild-caught Culex pipiens pipiens L., Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Say, and two populations of Culex tarsalis Coquillett females were inoculated intrathoracically with 10(2.7 +/- 0.1) plaque-forming units of WN virus. F1...

Lysinibacillus sphaericus produces the mosquito larvicidal binary toxin consisting of BinA and BinB, which are both required for toxicity against Culex and Anopheles larvae. The molecular mechanisms behind Bin toxin-induced damage remain unexplored. We used whole-genome microarray-based transcriptome analysis to better understand how Culex larvae respond to Bin toxin treatment at the molecular ...

Large-scale patterns in the seasonal abundance profiles of the arboviral mosquito vectors Culex tarsalis Coquillett and the species of the Culex pipiens complex were described based on a decade of counts from 868 New Jersey light traps located throughout the urban and agricultural areas of California. Mean seasonal abundance profiles varied markedly among hydrologic regions. For all species, ab...

Vector competence, the probability that a vector will transmit a pathogen after feeding on an infected host, is known to vary among vector species, populations, days since feeding, and temperature during the extrinsic incubation period. However, the extent of spatio-temporal variability and consistency in vector competence of populations is not known. We examined vector competence of Culex pipi...

Many invasive species succeed in becoming established in new locations because of their competitive superiority to native species. This has been shown in several examples involving mosquitoes. In this study, we examined the interspecific competition between mosquito larvae of a well-established, non-native species, Culex pipiens, and those of its ecologically similar, native congener Culex rest...

identification of host blood meal in haematophagous arthropods is an important element in their rule in transmission of vector borne diseases. the effects of post ingestion and physical conditions that killed mosquitoes are stored on the success of detecting blood meal dna of anopheles stephensi and culex quinquefasiatus was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) amplification at the h...