Culex restuans

Species of fly

Culex restuans

An adult male Cx. restuans resting on a flowering plant
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Diptera
Family:  | Culicidae
Genus:  | Culex
Subgenus:  | Culex
Species:  |

C. restuans

Binomial name
Culex restuans

Theobald, 1901

Culex restuans is a species of mosquito known to occur in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Bahamas.[1][2] It is a disease vector for St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus.[3] In 2013 West Nile Virus positive specimens were collected in Southern California.[4][5]

## Taxonomy[edit]

Culex restuans is considered part of the Pipiens group and the Restuans species complex.[6]

## Description[edit]

Culex restuans is a medium-sized brown mosquito.[7] It is occasionally called the "white-dotted mosquito", referring to two white dots sometimes found on the dorsal scutum.[8] This, however, is not a reliable character for identification because scales that constitute these spots can fall off and some adult mosquitoes eclose without these spots.[9] Without these distinctive white dots, this species looks very similar to another medically important Culex mosquito, Cx pipiens.[9]

A paper published in 2020 addresses the lack of reliable distinguishing characters between Cx. pipiens and restuans in reputable keys, and identified five characters that reliably distinguished these two species in their data set collected from Minnesota and Wisconsin.[10] The coloration and number of erect scales on the dorsal area of the head, number of setae on the upper thoracic proepisternum, coloration of prepostnotal setae, coloration of setae found on the mid-lobe of the scutellum, and coloration of wing remigial setae were all found to be reliable characters for distinguishing these two species in their data set.[10] More research needs to be done on Cx. pipiens and restuans populations throughout the United States before these characters can confidently be incorporated into a larger taxonomic key.[10]

## Control Methods[edit]

For the control of medically important mosquito species like Cx. restuans in the United States, synthetic pyrethroids and organophosphates are the most commonly used adulticides; insect growth regulators like methoprene and bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) and Lysinibacillus sphaericus are commonly used larvicides.[11][12][13]

Insecticide resistance in Cx. restuans populations is a prevalent problem facing vector control programs.[12] The Northeast Regional Center for Vector-Borne Disease reports widespread trends of low- and moderate-level insecticide resistance to methoprene in Culex spp. populations in the northeast United States.[12] Instances of moderate and high level resistance to pyrethroids have increased in recent years.[12]

Entomophthoraceae family, fungus Species Erynia conica infects (and kills) mosquitos Aedes aegypti and Culex restuans. Attempts are being made to use it as a biological control for the insect.[14]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Strickman, D.; Darsie, R. F. Jr. (1988). "The previously undetected presence of Culex restuans (Diptera: Culicidae) in Central america, with notes on identification". Mosquito Systematics. 20 (1): 21–27.
2. ^ "Culex restuans Theobald, 1901 | Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU)". www.wrbu.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
3. ^ "Culex restuans". www.wrbu.org. The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
4. ^ Sandhu TS, Williams GW, Haynes BW, Dhillon MS. Population dynamics of blood-fed female mosquitoes and comparative efficacy of resting boxes in collecting them from the northwestern part of Riverside County, California. J Global Infect Dis [serial online] 2013 [cited 2013 Oct 22];5:15-8.
5. ^ Sandhu TS, Williams GA, Haynes BW, Dhillon MS. Evaluation of arboviral activity at Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control District, Riverside County, California during 2008. Proc and Papers of the Mosq and Vector Control Assoc of Calif, vol 77, 2009. p. 108-15.
6. ^ Harbach, Ralph E. (2011-10-01). "Classification within the cosmopolitan genus Culex (Diptera: Culicidae): The foundation for molecular systematics and phylogenetic research". Acta Tropica. 120 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2011.06.005. ISSN 0001-706X. PMID 21741350.
7. ^ Carpenter, Stanley J.; Casse, Walter J. La (1955). Mosquitoes of North America (north of Mexico). University of California Press.
8. ^ "Species Culex restuans - White-dotted Mosquito". bugguide.net. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
9. ^ a b Harrington, Laura C.; Poulson, Rebecca L. (2008-01-01). "Considerations for Accurate Identification of Adult Culex restuans (Diptera: Culicidae) in Field Studies". Journal of Medical Entomology. 45 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1093/jmedent/45.1.1. ISSN 0022-2585. PMID 18283935.
10. ^ a b c Ferreira-de-Freitas, Lílian; Thrun, Nicholas B; Tucker, Bradley J; Melidosian, Lauren; Bartholomay, Lyric C (2020-11-01). "An Evaluation of Characters for the Separation of Two Culex Species (Diptera: Culicidae) Based on Material From the Upper Midwest". Journal of Insect Science. 20 (6). doi:10.1093/jisesa/ieaa119. ISSN 1536-2442. PMC 7641446. PMID 33147340.
11. ^ CDC (2023-05-01). "Adulticides | CDC". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
12. ^ a b c d Diseases, Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne (2023-10-26). "Pesticide Resistance Monitoring Program". ArcGIS StoryMaps. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
13. ^ CDC (2020-08-24). "Larvicides | CDC". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
14. ^ Cuebas-Incle, E. L. (December 1992). "Infection of adult mosquitoes by the entomopathogenic fungus Erynia conica (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae)". J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 8 (4): 367–71. PMID 1474381.

Taxon identifiers|

* Wikidata: Q14570774
* BioLib: 1184794
* BOLD: 14295
* BugGuide: 60334
* CoL: 8836V
* EoL: 740668
* EPPO: CULXRE
* GBIF: 1652927
* iNaturalist: 217908
* IRMNG: 10132938
* ITIS: 126493
* NatureServe: 2.808322
* NCBI: 38742

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