Aedes albopictus, from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, also known as the (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito, is a mosquito native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia. In the past few centuries, however, this species has spread to many countries through the transport of goods and international travel. It is characterized by the white bands on its legs and body.
Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term arbovirus is a portmanteau word. Tibovirus is sometimes used to more specifically describe viruses transmitted by ticks, a superorder within the arthropods. Arboviruses can affect both animals and plants. In humans, symptoms of arbovirus infection generally occur 3–15 days after exposure to the virus and last three or four days. The most common clinical features of infection are fever, headache, and malaise, but encephalitis and viral hemorrhagic fever may also occur.
Wolbachia is a genus of gram-negative bacteria that can either infect many species of arthropod as an intracellular parasite, or act as a mutualistic microbe in filarial nematodes. It is one of the most common parasitic microbes of arthropods, and is possibly the most common reproductive parasite in the biosphere. Its interactions with its hosts are often complex. Some host species cannot reproduce, or even survive, without Wolbachia colonisation. One study concluded that more than 16% of neotropical insect species carry bacteria of this genus, and as many as 25 to 70% of all insect species are estimated to be potential hosts.
Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. This mosquito originated in Africa, but is now found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world.
Stegomyia is a large subgenus of the mosquito genus Aedes with 131 species classified in six species groups, two groups of which are further divided into subgroups.
Aedes vexans, the inland floodwater mosquito or tomguito, is a cosmopolitan and common pest mosquito. This species has been collected in southern California.
Mosquito-borne diseases or mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year, resulting in over 725,000 deaths.
Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus shares a genus with the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Since the 1950s, it has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007 to 2016, the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic.
The 2007 Yap Islands Zika virus outbreak represented the first time Zika virus had been detected outside Africa and Asia. It occurred in the Yap Islands, an island chain in the Federated States of Micronesia. Zika virus (ZIKV) is a vector-borne flavivirus in the same family as yellow fever, dengue, West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses.
A lethal ovitrap is a device which attracts gravid female container-breeding mosquitoes and kills them. The traps halt the insect's life cycle by killing adult insects and stopping reproduction. The original use of ovitraps was to monitor the spread and density of Aedes and other container-breeding mosquito populations by collecting eggs which could be counted, or hatched to identify the types of insects. Since its conception, researchers found that adding lethal substances to the ovitraps could control the populations of these targeted species. These traps are called lethal ovitraps. They primarily target Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which are the main vectors of dengue fever, Zika virus, west Nile virus, yellow fever, and chikungunya.
Aedes africanus is a species of mosquito that is found on the continent of Africa with the exclusion of Madagascar. Aedes aegypti and Aedes africanus are the two main yellow fever vector species in Zambia. Aedes africanus is mainly found in tropical forests not near wetlands.
Spondweni virus is an arbovirus, or arthropod-borne virus, which is a member of the family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. It is part of the Spondweni serogroup which consists of the Sponweni virus and the Zika virus (ZIKV). The Spondweni virus was first isolated in Nigeria in 1952, and ever since, SPONV transmission and activity have been reported throughout Africa. Its primary vector of transmission is the sylvatic mosquito Aedes circumluteolus, though it has been isolated from several different types of mosquito. Transmission of the virus into humans can lead to a viral infection known as Spondweni fever, with symptoms ranging from headache and nausea to myalgia and arthralgia. However, as SPONV is phylogenetically close to the ZIKV, it is commonly misdiagnosed as ZIKV along with other viral illnesses.
Aedes hensilli is a mosquito species originally collected in 1945 on Ulithi atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap State. It is the most abundant and widespread Aedes (Stegomyia) species mosquito in Yap State, the only Aedes (Stegomyia) species on Woleai, and the only species of mosquito present on Eauripik.
Aedes vittatus is a species of mosquito that was first described in 1861 as Culex vittatus from specimens collected on Corsica. In 2000, the species was transferred to the newly erected subgenus Fredwardsius as the type species representing the subgenus.
Aedes luteocephalus is an African species that is a demonstrated or suspected vector of several important arboviral diseases of humans. First described in 1907 as Stegomyia luteocephala, the species is currently classified in the genus Aedes, subgenus Stegomyia.
Aedes malayensis was first described in 1963 by Australian entomologist Donald Henry Colless as a subspecies of Aedes scutellaris from males collected at Pulau Hantu, Keppel Harbor, Singapore. In 1972 the subspecies was elevated to species status by Yiau-Min Huang, although the move was disputed by the original describer on biological as opposed to morphological principles.
Aedes mediovittatus, the "Caribbean treehole mosquito," was first described in 1906 as Stegomyia mediovittata by Daniel W. Coquillett.
Toxorhynchites (Toxorhynchites) splendens is a species of non-hematophagous mosquito belonging to the genus Toxorhynchites. It is widely used as a predator to control dengue mosquitoes.
Aedes circumluteolus is a species of mosquito that is found throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is often found in tropical coastal lowlands and Bushveld savanna.
