Description

Potentially Misidentified Species - The first 2 species were listed for Washington DC by Good (1946), and the second 2 for MD by Bickley (1987). Culiseta annulata was first identified as the western North American species C. particeps (Faran and Bailey 1980).

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus
Animalia	Hexapoda	Insecta	Diptera	Culicidae	Culiseta

Synonyms

Theobaldia annulata

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record	Population	Range	Introduction	Residency	Source Region	Native Region	Vectors
1978	Unknown	Unknown	Introduced	Boundary Resident	Europe	Eurasia	Shipping(unspecified)

History of Spread

Culiseta annulata is a mosquito native to Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa, which breeds in both artificial (barrels, tanks, ditches) and natural habitats (puddles, marshes, ponds) (Faran and Bailey1980; Marshall 1938). It is apparently known from only 3 specimens in North America.

The first record of Culiseta annulata on this continent was a dead mosquito collected from an airliner, which had arrived at what is now John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City NY in 1950 (Faran and Bailey1980; Guirgis 1984). In 1983, another specimen was collected in Manorville NY, also on Long Island, about 88 km east of JFK airport,and 100 km east of New York Harbor, but not far from a military airfield (Guirgis 1984).

The one Chesapeake Bay specimen of Culiseta annulata was an overwintering female collected from a bunker at Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Harbor, in March 1978. Faran and Bailey (1980) suggested that a breeding population of this mosquito might exist in brackish marshes adjacent to the fort, or in pools of water in the old fortifications. However, no further specimens have been reported from the Chesapeake Bay or elswhere in MD (Bickley 1987). We have found no references to any further occurrences of this mosquito in North America.

History References - Bickley 1987; Faran and Bailey 1980; Guirgis 1984; Marshall 1938

Invasion Comments

Residency- Culiseta annulata is known from only one specimen in the Chesapeake Bay area. It is included here as a 'boundary resident' because it is known to breed in marshes and other natural habitats as well as in puddles, containers, and other man-made habitats (Faran and Bailey 1980; Marshall 1938).

Probable vector into Chesapeake Bay, North America - 'Shipping-unspecified' here includes air transport. Since Fort McHenry is 20 km from an airport, but adjacent to Baltimore harbor, the Baltimore specimen or its ancestors was considered to have been most likely transported by ship (Faran and Bailey 1980). However, the two NY specimens were definitely (the 1950 airliner specimen) or probably (the Manorville, Long Island specimen) carried on airplanes (Guirgis 1984).

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

	For Survival		For Reproduction
	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
Temperature (ºC)
Salinity (‰)	0.0	12.0	0.0	12.0
Oxygen
pH
	Salinity Range	fresh-meso

Age and Growth

	Male	Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)
Typical Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

	Start	Peak	End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Culiseta annulata is known from only one specimen in the Chesapeake region (Bickley 1987; Faran and Bailey 1980), and so has no present economic impact.

References- Bickley 1987; Faran and Bailey 1980

Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

In Europe, Culiseta annulata is one of the largest known mosquitos, and is considered to be an agressive biter (Marshall 1938). It is believed to transmit Tahyna virus (Faran and Bailey 1980), but we have no information on the medical importance of this pathogen. Mosquitos as a group are closely monitored by local, state, and federal agencies because of their importance as disease vectors, as well as their general effect on peoples' comfort and recreation.

References- Faran and Bailey 1980; Marshall 1938

Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

Since Culiseta annulata is known only from a single specimen in the Chesapeake Bay region (Bickley 1987; Faran and Bailey 1980), and a total of 3 in North America (Guirgis 1984), it has had no known impacts in the region, or in North America.

References - Bickley 1987; Faran and Bailey 1980; Giurgis 1984

Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

Culiseta annulata is known only from one specimen in the Chesapeake region (Faran and Bailey 1980), so it has had no known impacts on other introduced biota in the Chesapeake Bay region. The other introduced mosquitos in the region, Aedes egypti (Yellow Fever Mosquito, now largely extirpated), the newly arrived Aedes albopictus (Asian Tiger Mosquito), and the possibly introduced Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus (Southern House Mosquito) (Craig and Hawley 1991) all breed primarily in man-made environments, such as puddles, tanks, containers, etc, and do not use estuarine waters.

References- Craig and Hawley 1991; Faran and Bailey 1980

References

Bickley, William E. (1987) Some Maryland mosquitoes are extremists., Maryland Naturalist 31: 2-4

Bickley, William E.; Stanley, R. Joseph; Mallack, Jerry; Berry, Robert A. (1971) An annotated list of the mosquitoes of Maryland, Mosquito News 31: 186-190

Craig, George B., Jr.; Hawley, William A. (1991) Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus: Whither, whence, and why not Virginia?, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Information Series 91: 1-10

Faran, Michael E.; Bailey, Charles L. (1980) Discovery of an overwintering adult female of Culiseta annulata in Baltimore., Mosquito News 40: 284-287

Good, Newell E. (1945) A list of the mosquitoes of the District of Columbia, Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 47: 168-178

Guirgis, Samir S. (1984) A new record of Culiseta annulata with notes on mosquito species in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, Mosquito News 44: 246

Knight, Kenneth L.; Stone, Alan (1977) A Catalog of the Mosquitoes of the World (Diptera: Culicidae), , Baltimore, MD. Pp.

Marshall, J. F. (1938) The British Mosquitoes, , London. Pp.

Culiseta annulata

Invertebrates