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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Mosquitoes and Midges (Culicomorpha) » Mosquitoes (Culicidae) » Culicini » Culex

Genus Culex

Classification · Pronunciation · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Ringed mosquito - Culex territans - female

Western Encephalitis Mosquito - Culex tarsalis - male

Culex coronator - Culex coronator - female

Field-collected specimen from CDC light trap - Culex salinarius - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))

Infraorder Culicomorpha (Mosquitoes and Midges)

Family Culicidae (Mosquitoes)

Tribe Culicini

Genus Culex

Pronunciation

KYOO-leks

Numbers

27 spp. in in 4 subgenera our area(1), ca. 770 spp. in 26 subgenera worldwide(2)

Identification

Adult: Tip of abdomen blunt, no pre- or post-spiracular setae

Range

worldwide and throughout NA(2)

Habitat

Larvae of various species develop in standing water of ponds and marshes, snowmelt pools, empty barrels, used tires, bird baths, tin cans etc. (specific larval habitat varies according to species)

Season

adults found year round, even in northern latitudes (BG data)

Food

Cx. nigripalpus, Cx. pipiens, Cx. tarsalis all shift (at least regionally) from feeding primarily on birds in spring to an increasing fraction from mammals in later summer (3)(4)

Life Cycle

Multiple generations per year; eggs are laid in "rafts" on surface of standing water;

overwinters as a fertilized adult female in sheltered areas (5)

Remarks

Some species are vectors of organisms that cause diseases such as West Nile Virus, eastern equine encephalitis, and dog heartworm disease

Print References

Savage H., Miller B. (1995) House mosquitoes of the U.S.A., Culex pipiens complex. Wing Beats 6(2): 8-9.

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

2.	The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU) - Vector Identification Resources

3.	Culex nigripalpus: seasonal shift in the bird-mammal feeding ratio in a mosquito vector of human encephalitis. Edman JD, Taylor DJ. 1968. Science 161(3836): 67-68.

4.	West Nile virus epidemics in North America are driven by shifts in mosquito feeding behavior. Kilpatrick et al. 2006. PLoS Biol. 4(4): e82.

5.	Handbook of the Mosquitoes of North America, 2nd Ed. Matheson, R. 1966. Hafner Publishing Company, NY. viii + 314 pp.

Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 1 October, 2005 - 6:00pm
Additional contributions by Robin McLeod, anitagould, Omar Fahmy, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 9 October, 2021 - 5:13pm

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