Aedes africanus

Aedes africanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Culicidae
Genus: Aedes
Species: A. africanus
Binomial name
Aedes africanus
Synonyms

Stegomyia africanus

Aedes africanus is a species of mosquito that is found on the continent of Africa with the exclusion of Madagascar.[1] Aedes aegypti and Aedes africanus are the two main yellow fever vector species in Zambia.[2] Aedes africanus is mainly found in tropical forests not near wetlands.[3]

Identification

This mosquito has distinct white and black stripes along its body which help differentiate the genus from others in this family.[4] Females of this species are ectoparasites and can most often be found on mammals living in the tropical forests of Africa.[4] The africanus species can be distinguished from other mosquitoes in the genus Aedes by having white scales on the maxillary palpi, scutum with a patch of large white scales, and 3 large white patches on the mid-femur.[4]

Life Cycle

The lifecycle of mosquitoes in the Aedes genus.

This species lays its eggs in holes in trees, cut bamboo, bamboo stumps, and tree forks.[4][5] In laboratory settings, it was observed that the larvae hatch best at 27 °C and the quantity of water was not a factor in embryonic development but we most often laid within 2 cm of the water surface.[3]

Aedes africanus adults are crepuscular feeders, meaning they feed from dusk to dawn.[6] Although this species is a vector for many diseases, because it is mainly found in forests, primates are its main source of blood meals.[6] Early studies of its populations suggest that when sampled in forested areas, it made up 95% of the caught species and only 50% in surrounding villages.[7] When populations are high enough, Toxorhynchites mosquitoes can be brought in as a biological control as they parasitize africanus larvae in the shared breeding habitat.[8]

Medical importance

Very closely related to Aedes africanus, this Aedes aegypti mosquito is also a very important vector of the yellow fever virus.

This species of mosquito is an essential yellow fever vector in wooded habitats.[3] In addition to being a major vector of yellow fever, Aedes africanus also vectors pathogens such as dengue virus, West Nile virus, and Rift Valley fever virus.[1][9] It is also a vector of Zika virus, the causal agent of Zika fever.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Systematic Catalog of Culicidae, http://www.wrbu.org/SpeciesPages_non-ANO/non-ANO_A-hab/AEafr_hab.html
  2. ↑ Masaninga F., Muleba, M., Masendu, H., Songolo, P., Mweene-Ndumba, I., Mazaba-Liwewe, M., Kamuliwo, M., Ameneshewa, B., Siziya, S., Babaniyi, O. (2014) Distribution of yellow fever vectors in the Northwestern and Western provinces, Zambia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 7(1), S88-S92.
  3. 1 2 3 Sempala, S. (1981). Some laboratory observations on the biology of Aedes (Stegomyia) africanus. Insect science and its application 2(3):189-195.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Huang, Y. (1990) The subgenus Stegomyia of Aedes in the Afrotropical region. I. The africanus group of species (Diptera: Culicidae). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 26(1):3-90.
  5. ↑ Schaeffer, B., Mondet, B., Touzeau, S. 2008. Using a climate-dependent model to predict mosquito abundance: Application to Aedes (Stegomyia) africanus and Aedes (Diceromyia) furcifer (Diptera: Culicidae). Genetics and Evolution 8(4):422-432
  6. 1 2 Ross, R., Gillett, J. (1950) The cyclical transmission of yellow fever virus through the Grivet monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops centralis Neumann, and the Mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) africanus Theobald. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 44(4):351.
  7. ↑ Bang, Y., Brown, D., Arata, A. (1980) Ecological studies on Aedes africanus (Diptera: Culicidae) and associated species in southeastern Nigeria. Journal of Medical Entomology 17(5):411-416.
  8. ↑ Sempala, S. (1982) Interactions between immature Aedes africanus (Theobald) and larvae of two predatory species of Toxorhynchites (Diptera: Culicidae) in Zika Forest, Uganda. Bulletin of Entomological Research 73(1):19-24.
  9. ↑ http://www.ianphi.org/whatwedo/projects/uganda5.html
  10. ↑ Edward B. Hayes. 2009. Zika Virus Outside Africa. Emerging Infectious Diseases 15(9): 1347–1350; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819875/.
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