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Aedes albopictus
Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) (syn. Stegomyia albopicta), called the Tiger Mosquito or Forest Day Mosquito, from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, is characterized by its black and white striped legs, and small black and white striped body. It originated in Southeast Asia, but has spread during the last 30-40 years to North, Central and Southern America, parts of Africa, northern Australia and several countries in Europe. Since its first appearance in Albania in 1979 and in Italy in 1990, Aedes albopictus has been reported in more than 15 European countries. It is listed as one of the top 100 invasive species by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG, 2009) and is considered to be the most invasive mosquito species in the world.
Backyard, spotted on a Taro leaf.
A blood-feeding insect (sanguinivorous), Aedes albopictus is an epidemiologically important vector for the transmission of many viral pathogens, including the West Nile virus, Yellow fever virus, St. Louis encephalitis, dengue fever, and Chikungunya fever, as well as several filarial nematodes such as Dirofilaria immitis. Add'l Reference: http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/ae... http://www.biolib.cz/en/image/id41136/
Spotted on Mar 17, 2013
Submitted on Mar 21, 2013
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