Bionomics, cont.
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Medical Importance, cont.
Aedes includes species which transmit yellow fever, dengue, and other arboviruses. A few species also transmit the helminths that cause Brugian and Bancroftian filariasis. Stegomyia is the most important subgenus of Aedes from a medical point of view. It includes Aedes aegypti, the classical vector of urban yellow fever and dengue fever viruses. Aedes aegypti is widely distributed through the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Other important vectors include Ae. africanus and Ae. bromeliae, which transmit yellow fever virus in Africa, and Ae. albopictus, an important vector of dengue fever virus in the Oriental Region. Recently the latter species has been introduced into the USA, Central America, Brazil, southern Europe (Albania and Italy), and Africa (Nigeria). Other important vectors of dengue fever virus include Ae. scutellaris, Ae. pseudoscutellaris, and Ae. polynesiensis in the Pacific Islands. The latter two species also transmit the helminths which cause Bancroftian filariasis.
Aedes vexans of the subgenus Aedimorphus has an extensive distribution in tropical Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia, and temperate regions of the Nearctic and Palaearctic Regions. The adults are annoying and persistent biters which can be involved in the transmission of arboviruses. A few species of the subgenus Finlaya, including Ae. poicilius, Ae. togoi, Ae. kochi, Ae. niveus, and Ae. harinasutai, are important vectors of arboviruses and microfilariae in the Oriental Region. Two species of the subgenus Diceromyia, Ae. taylori and Ae. furcifer, are implicated in the transmission of yellow fever virus and the spread of Chikungunya virus in Africa. A few medically important species belong to the subgenus Ochlerotatus. Aedes vigilax transmits the agents of Bancroftian filariasis in New Caledonia and several viruses (e.g., Ross River virus) in Australia. Ae. sierrensis and Ae. atlanticus are important vectors of dog heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) in North America. A few other species transmit various arboviruses, mainly those that cause encephalitis. A single species of the subgenus Protomacleaya, Ae. triseriatus, is an important vector of the California group of encephalitis viruses.
For references on Aedes, see WRBU's Mosquito Catalog