Aedes sollicitans (Walker, 1856)

NEARCTIC REGION

[China invasive]

Family
Subfamily
Tribe
Genus
Subgenus
Group

 

Etymology: not stated [disturbing, harassing (L)]

Aedes sollicitans is most closely related to Ae. taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann), which, along with Ae. mitchellae (Dyar) and Ae. nigromaculis (Ludlow), make up the Culicelsa Group of the subgenus Ochlerotatus. Aedes sollicitans is a salt marsh floodwater mosquito, that dominates many coastal areas of the eastern and southern United States, as far north as northeastern Canada, and extends south into Mexico and the Caribbean.

Type locality: Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Type depository: Natural History Museum, London, England, United Kingdom (NHMUK)

DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS  (Click photos to view; mouse over and click large photo to zoom in.)

ADULT (illustrated): Head: Proboscis with broad median pale band. Thorax: Postprocoxal scales white. Abdomen: Terga with white to yellow dorsomedian longitudinal stripe; lateral pale scales white, basal and medial scales pale yellow. Wings: Speckled with dark and pale scales. Legs: Fe-I–III and Ti-I–III speckled with pale scales; Ta-III1 with median yellowish band; Ta-III1–4 with broad basal pale bands; Ta-III5 entirely white. 

LARVA (not illustrated): Head: Seta 1-A long, reaching tip of antenna; setae 5,6-C single, gradually tapering. Terminal segments: Comb with sharply pointed scales with long median spinule; saddle complete, posterior margin without spicules; siphon index c. 2.0–2.5; seta 1-VIII ≤0.5 x siphon length; seta 1-S inserted beyond pecten; seta 2-X with ≥6 branches, distinctly shorter than seta 3-X.

 

TAXONOMIC KEYS

Carpenter & LaCasse 1955

Ross & Horsfall 1965

Dodge 1966

Darsie & Ward 2005

Becker et al. 2010

Harrison et al. 2016

WRBU LUCID KEYS

 

adult mosquito key icon

WRBU – Aedes – Neotropical Region – Adult

larval key icon

WRBU – Aedes – Neotropical Region – Larva

 

DISTRIBUTION NOTES

Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, [People's Republic of China], Puerto Rico, United States (continental), Virgin Islands.

Distribution map for <em>Aedes sollicitans</em> (Walker, 1856)

 

WRBU VECTOR HAZARD REPORTS

None; View other WRBU Vector Hazard Reports

Available GIS Models:

None

 

IMPORTANT REFERENCES (full citations below)

Walker 1856a: 427 (F; as Culex)

Mitchell 1907 (E*)

Howard et al. 1913 (1912) (E*)

Howard et al. 1917: 658 (M*, F, L*, E*; bionomics)

Gerry 1932 (F*)

Ross 1947: 69 (M*, F*, L*)

Darsie 1951: 15 (P*)

Yamaguti & LaCasse 1951d: 176 (M*, F*, L*)

Decoursey & Webster 1952 (E*)

Carpenter & LaCasse 1955: 227 (M*, F*, L*; keys)

Craig 1956 (E*)

Craig & Horsfall 1958 (E*)

Craig & Horsfall 1960 (E*)

Ross & Horsfall 1965 (M*, F*, L*, E*; keys)

Belkin et al. 1966: 3 (restriction of type locality)

Dodge 1966: 356 (1st instar L; key)

Mohrig 1967 (F*)

Belkin 1968b: 7 (lectotype designation)

Belkin et al. 1970: 155 (M*, F, P*, L*)

Horsfall et al. 1970: 1710 (E*)

Olson & Meola 1976 (E*)

Scotton & Axtell 1979 (E*)

Reinert 2002e: Fig. 28 (F*)

Darsie & Ward 2005 (F*, L*; keys, distribution)

Becker et al. 2010: 391 (F*, L*; key, taxonomy, distribution, bionomics)

Harrison et al. 2016 (F*, L*; keys, distribution)

 

CURRENT SYNONYMS

None

 

CITED REFERENCES

Becker, N., Petrić, D., Zgomba, M., Boase, C., Madon, M., Dahl, C., & Kaiser, A. (2010). Mosquitoes and their control (Second ed.). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Belkin, J.N. (1968b). Mosquito studies (Diptera, Culicidae). IX. The type specimens of New World mosquitoes in European museums. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 3(4), 1–69.

Belkin, J.N., Heinemann, S.J., & Page, W.A. (1970). The Culicidae of Jamaica (Mosquito studies. XXI) Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 6(1), 458.

Belkin, J.N., Schick, R.X., & Heinemann, S.J. (1966). Mosquito studies (Diptera: Culicidae). VI. Mosquitoes originally described from North America. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 1(6), 1–39.

Carpenter, S.J., & LaCasse, W.J. (1955). Mosquitoes of North America (North of Mexico). Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press. 

Craig Jr., G.B. (1956) Entomología Médica. 3.0 Volume. Culicini: Haemagogus, Mansonia, Culiseta, Sabethini, Toxorhynchitini. Arboviruses. Filariose bancroftiana. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.

Craig Jr., G.B., & Horsfall, W.R. (1958). Taxonomic and ecological significance of eggs of aedine mosquitoes. Proceeding of the Tenth International Congress of Entomology, 3, 853–857.

Craig Jr., G.B., & Horsfall, W.R. (1960). Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes. VII. Species of Aedes common in the Southeastern United States (Diptera: Culicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 53(1), 11–18.

Darsie, R.F., Jr. (1951). Pupae of the culicine mosquitoes of the northeastern United States (Diptera, Culicidae, Culicini). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station Memoir 304.

Darsie, R.F., Jr., & Ward, R.A. (2005). Identification and geographical distribution of the mosquitoes of North America, north of Mexico. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Decoursey, J.D., & Webster, A.P. (1952). A method of clearing the chorion of Aedes sollicitans (Walker) eggs and preliminary observations on their embryonic development. Annals Entomological Society of America, 45, 625–632.

Dodge, H. R. (1966). Studies on mosquito larvae II. The first-stage larvae of North American Culicidae and of world Anophelinae. Canadian Entomologist, 98, 337–393.

Gerry, B. I. (1932). Morphological studies of the female genitalia of Cuban mosquitoes. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 25, 31–75.

Harrison, B.A., Byrd, B.D., Sither, C.B., & Whitt, P.B. (2016). The mosquitoes of the Mid-Atlantic Region: an identification guide (Vol. 1). Madison Heights, MI: Publishing XPress.

Horsfall, W.R., Voorhees, F.R., & Cupp, E.W. (1970). Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes. XIII. Chorionic sculpturing. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 63, 1709–1716.

Howard, L.O., Dyar, H.G., & Knab, F. (1913). The mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies. (Vol. II) (1912). Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Howard, L.O., Dyar, H.G., & Knab, F. (1917). The mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies. Systematic description. Part II. Carnegie Institute of Washington.

Mitchell, E.G. (1907). The classification of the Culicidae. Canadian Entomologist, 198–201.

Mohrig, W. (1967). Die taxonomische Bedeutung der Struktur weiblicher Genitalien im Culiciden- Tribus Aedini. Angewandte Parasitologie, 8, 67–100.

Olson, J.K., & Meola, S.M. (1976). Variations in chorionic sculpturing of eggs of Aedes sollicitans (Walker). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 69, 96–100.

Reinert, J.F. (2002e). Comparative anatomy of the female genitalia of genera and subgenera in tribe aedini (Diptera: Culicidae). Part XIII. Genus Ochlerotatus Lynch Arribalzaga. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 33(1), 1–111.

Ross, H.H. (1947). The mosquitoes of Illinois (Diptera, Culicidae). Bulletin of the Illinois Natural History Survey, 24(1), 1–96.

Ross, H.H., & Horsfall, W.R. (1965). A synopsis of the mosquitoes of Illinois (Diptera, Culicidae). Illinois Natural History Survey Biological Notes, 52, 1–50.

Scotton, G.L., & Axtell, R.C. (1979). Aedes taeniorhynchus and Aedes sollicitans (Diptera, Culicidae) oviposition on coastal dredge spoil. Mosquito News, 39(1), 97–110.

Walker, F. (1856a). Insecta Saundersiana: or characters of undescribed insects in the collection of William Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. Vol. I. Diptera. London: John van Voorst.

Yamaguti, S., & LaCasse, W.J. (1951d). Mosquito fauna of North America Part V – Genus Aedes. Office of the Surgeon, Headquarters, 8th Army, APO 343. United States. Office of the Surgeon-General. 207th Malaria Survey Detachment.

 

CITE THIS PAGE

Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (Year). Aedes sollicitans species page. Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit Website, http://wrbu.si.edu/vectorspecies/mosquitoes/sollicitans, accessed on [date (e.g. 03 February 2020) when you last viewed the site].