Aedes luteocephalus explained

Aedes luteocephalus is an African species that is a demonstrated or suspected vector of several important arboviral diseases of humans.^{[1] [2]} First described in 1907 as Stegomyia luteocephala,^[3] the species is currently classified in the genus Aedes, subgenus Stegomyia.^[4] __TOC__

Bionomics

The immature stages of Aedes luteocephalus develop preferentially in tree holes and rot holes, with bamboo stems and artificial containers also being utilized for egg-laying and larval and pupal development.^[4]

The species' distribution includes Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.^[4]

Medical importance

Adult female Aedes luteocephalus are human-biters^[4] and demonstrated vectors of yellow fever.^{[1] [2] [4]} Chikungunya, dengue serotype 2, and Zika viruses have also been isolated from Aedes luteocephalus.^{[1] [2] [4]}

Notes and References

1. J.-P. Mutebi, M. B. Crabtree, R. C. Kading, A. M. Powers, J. J. Lutwama, B. R. Miller. 2012. Mosquitoes of Western Uganda. Journal of Medical Entomology, 49(6): 1289-1306; http://jme.oxfordjournals.org/content/49/6/1289, accessed 13 Feb 2016.
2. Diagne . CT . Diallo . D . Faye . O . Ba . Y . Faye . O . Gaye . A . Dia . I . Faye . O . Weaver . SC . Sall . AA . Diallo . M . 2015 . Potential of selected Senegalese Aedes spp. mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) to transmit Zika virus . . 15 . 492 . 4629289 . 26527535 . 10.1186/s12879-015-1231-2 . free .
3. Newstead, R., Dutton, J.E., and Todd, J.L. 1907. Insects and other Arthropoda collected in the Congo Free State. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, 1:1-112; 15.
4. Thomas V. Gaffigan, Richard C. Wilkerson, James E. Pecor, Judith A. Stoffer and Thomas Anderson: "Aedes (Stg.) luteocephala" in Systematic Catalog of Culicidae, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Web site: "Aedes (Stg.) luteocephala" in Systematic Catalog of Culicidae . 2016-02-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160128210229/http://www.wrbu.org/SpeciesPages_non-ANO/non-ANO_A-hab/AElut_hab.html . 2016-01-28 ., accessed 13 Feb 2016.