Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say, 1823

Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A., Ahmad, Syed Kamran, Turner, James & Azari-Hamidian, Shahyad, 2023, An overview of the mosquitoes of Saudi Arabia (Diptera: Culicidae), with updated keys to the adult females, Zootaxa 5394 (1), pp. 1-76 : 37

Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 ( Fig. 35 )

Type locality. Mississippi River , United States.

Distribution. This species is cosmotropical ( Azari-Hamidian et al. 2019). In the Middle East, it occurs in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen ( Edwards 1914; Knight 1953b; Lewis 1956; Mattingly & Knight 1956; Abdel-Malek 1960; White 1980; Harbach 1985, 1988; Wills et al. 1985; Minář 1991; Salit et al. 1994; Al-Houty 1997; Al-Ali et al. 2008; Rueda et al. 2008; Alahmed et al. 2009; Kheir et al. 2010; Al Ahmad et al. 2011; Alahmed 2012; Al Ahmed et al. 2013; Kardousha 2015, 2016; Mahyoub et al. 2015; Hassan et al. 2016; Irish et al. 2016; Tantely et al. 2016; Gunathilaka 2018; Azari-Hamadian et al. 2019; Camp et al. 2019; Alkhayat et al. 2020; Farag et al. 2021; Maquart et al. 2021; Simsaa et al. 2021; Wilkerson et al. 2021; Khalefa et al. 2022). It was recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia by Harbach (1985).

Remarks. While Cx. pipiens is mostly ornithophilic, Cx. quinquefasciatus is primarily anthropophilic and also opportunistically feeds on other warm-blooded vertabrates, including birds, domestic animals and small mammals. The species is autogenous ( Wilkerson et al. 2021). Alahmed et al. (2019) discussed the issue of collection records and the difficulty of identifying the adults, especially females, of Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciatus in Saudi Arabia, and recommended that studies should be based on dissection of male genitalia or DNA sequence analysis of larvae and adults in order to verify the identifications and records of these species. However, Harbach (1985) reported that Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciatus could be distinguished morphologically using features of the wing venation. Recently, Noureldin et al. (2021) utilized, for the first time, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify Cx. quinquefasciatus in the Jazan region. In some old records in the region ( Mattingly & Knight 1956; Abdel-Malek 1960), the species was referred to as Cx. fatigans Wiedemann or Cx. pipiens fatigans .

Medical importance. Culex quinquefasciatus is an important vector of Rift Valley fever and West Nile viruses ( Schaffner et al. 2021; Simsaa et al. 2021). It is also an obligatory potential vector of the nematode Wuchereria bancrofti , which causes Bancroftian filariasis, and Japanese encephalitis virus all over the world, including the Middle East ( World Health Organization 1972; Arunachalam et al. 2004; Noureldin et al. 2021; Schaffner et al. 2021). The species is also considered to be a vector of the filarial worm Dirofilaria immitis , which causes dirofilariasis ( Carpenter & LaCasse 1955; Sirivanakarn 1976).

Figures

FIGURE 35. Culex quinquefasciatus, female (photo by James Turner, National Museum of Wales).