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Culicidae > Culicinae > Mansoniini

Distribution
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Zaire, Zambia
Distribution map

Synonyms
None

Bionomics
The larvae of Mansonia occur in permanent waters in association with aquatic plants which have roots used for attachment by the siphon to obtain oxygen from air cells for respiration. Larvae of some species burrow into debris on the bottom while others cling to the roots of plants in floating masses. Water lettuce (Pistia) is commonly used as a host plant, particularly by species of the subgenus Mansonioides. Larvae detach and re-attach to host plants quite readily. The females of several species are vicious nocturnal biters.

Important References >> 		habitus image Representative species shown here:
Mansonia dives

Genus-specific Diagnostic Characters, Adult Stage:
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1. Postspiracular setae present,
2. Eyes touching above antenna,
3. Antennae equal in length or longer than proboscis,
4. Prealar setae present,
5. Pulvilli absent,
6. Dorsal (upper) surface of wing with very broad AND strongly assymetrical scales.

Recommended characters:
7. Prespiracular setae absent,
8. Base of hindcoxa distinctly ventral to base of mesomeron,
9. Lower mesepimeral setae present,
10. Postspiracular setae present.

Genus-specific Diagnostic Characters, Larval Stage >>

Medical Importance
Mansonia titillans of the subgenus Mansonia is an important pest in South and Central America and in the southern USA. It is known to transmit various arboviruses, including Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Some species of the subgenus Mansonioides transmit several arboviruses, but they are mainly important as vectors of the helminths which cause Brugian filariasis in India and Southeast Asia. Mansonia uniformis, which is widely distributed from western Africa through southern Asia to Japan and the Australasian Region, is a vector of Wuchereria bancrofti in Irian Jaya.