Disease Vector Identification Service

Arthropod groups evaluated:

  • Mosquitoes (Culicidae)
  • Horse flies (Tabanidae)
  • Myiasis causing flies (Calliphoridae)
  • Filth flies (Muscidae, Sarcophagidae)
  • Biting Midges (Ceratopogonidae)
  • Sand flies (Psychodidae)
  • Black flies (Simuliidae)
  • Tse tse flies (Glossina spp.)
  • Lice (Phthiraptera)
  • Kissing bugs (Reduviidae)
  • Bed Bugs (Cimicidae)
  • Fleas (Siphonaptera)
  • Cockroaches (Blattaria)
  • Ticks, Mites (Acari)
  • Spiders (Araneae)
  • Scorpions (Scorpiones)

Requirements:

  1. Should be properly preserved and mounted (see guidelines).
  2. Should be part of an established research, surveillance or medical/veterinary diagnostics program.
  3. Should represent material needed as research, surveillance or diagnostics vouchers (species identification verification) and/or problematic specimens not yielding to routine identification with commonly available keys.
  4. Should be accompanied by DD Form 1222. Because of limited resources, identifications of large numbers of specimens are not possible except by prior arrangement. The level of identification will be dependent on the expertise available at WRBU and on willing participants in the museum and academic communities. Collaborations with other institutions and individuals also available by prior arrangement.

Internet Image Service Instructions:

  1. We will try to identify your mosquito specimens using images/pictures you send us through email. For each mosquito specimen, send us the images/pictures under different views/aspects (See below). Select the best specimens you have (less damaged parts, intact scales, etc.). When diagnostic characters in your images are not visible to positively ID your specimens, we will ask you take some more shots of your specimens. If they are impossible to ID using images, we will ask you to send us the specimens for further analysis.
  2. This service of using images to ID specimens is offered only to those Preventive Medicine units and other military units that need immediate ID results, particularly those deployed.
  3. You must have a stereomicroscope with at least 70X magnification and a digital camera (attached to your scope) to take images/pictures of your specimens. Save the images in JPEG file format and email to us.
  4. Contact us (ruedapol@si.edu; Tel. 301-238-1075; Fax 301-238-3168) prior to sending the images. Provide the following specimen collection data: place and date of collection, habitat, and collector.

For individual mosquito specimen, provide us with the following images/pictures:

POC: