Aedes taeniorhynchus, (Wiedemann)

Sinclair, Bradley J., 2023, An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador), Zootaxa 5283 (1), pp. 1-102 : 21-22

taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann)

Culex taeniorhynchus Wiedemann, 1821: 43 .

Aedes taeniorhynchus: Coquillett 1901a: 372 [records]; Johnson 1924 87 [records]; Curran 1934: 149 [records]; Linsley & Usinger 1966: 165 [checklist]; Knight & Stone 1977: 145 [catalogue]; Gerecke et al. 1995: 133 [aquatic invertebrates]; Bataille et al. 2009: 10230 [colonization]; Bataille et al. 2010: 4491 [population dynamics]; Asigau et al. 2017: 247 [altitudinal range].

Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus: Parkin et al. 1972: 106 [records].

Aedes taeniorhynchus portoricensis Ludlow, 1905: 386 . Johnson 1924: 87 [records].

Distribution. Native. Nearctic, Neotropical; Galápagos: Baltra, Española, Fernandina, Floreana, Gardner (ICCDRS), Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena (ICCDRS), Rábida, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, Santiago (see Eastwood et al. 2013).

Remarks. This species is known as the black salt-marsh mosquito, and is found along coasts and inland saline areas, with larvae found in saltwater tide pools, brackish pools and occasionally in nearby freshwater pools ( Johnson 1924; Carpenter & LaCasse 1955). Immatures have been collected in lagoons and mangrove pools in the Galápagos. This species has naturally dispersed to the islands prior to arrival of humans and feeds on mammals, birds and reptiles ( Bataille et al. 2009). Collection records indicate that adults are wide-ranging and are found many kilometres inland from coastal breeding sites. These highland populations have been identified and appear highly associated with precipitation levels ( Bataille et al. 2010). It has been hypothesized that A. taeniorhynchus may also breed in highland habitats, possibly utilizing bromeliads ( Belkin et al. 1970: 154; Bataille et al. 2010).

This night-feeding species feeds equally on mammals and reptiles and less frequently on birds and endemic avian filarial and Haemoprotus parasites have been detected on this vector ( Bataille et al. 2012). The potential role of Aedes taeniorhynchus in maintaining the flavivirus West Nile virus [WNV], should it reach the islands, has been studied by Eastwood et al. (2013). Abnormally high populations of this species were blamed for a high percentage of desertion of eggs by waved Albatrosses on Española in 1986 ( Anderson & Fortner 1988).