Introduction

Also known as: Mosquitoes
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH Culicoides midges
Aeges aegypti - Wikimedia Commons

Members of the Culicidae family are found accross the globe and a attack a wide variety of different species. They holometabola and have four stages to their life cycle; egg, larva, pupa and adult.

  • The most important species of veterinary importance are
    • Culex
    • Aedes
    • Anopheles

Identification

Culicidae flies like all insects have 3 pairs of legs and like all Diptera order flies have only a single set of wings and vestigal set of 'halters'.

Recognition

  • Small flies 2-10mm long
  • Forward pointing proboscis
  • Slender body and long legs
  • Narrow wings
  • Veins and rear margins of wings fringed with scales


Life cycle

  • Eggs laid on water
    • Either laid singly or in rafts
  • Larval and pupal stages are aquatic
    • Visible hanging from the water surface
  • Life cycle takes 2 weeks to several months to complete
    • Temperature dependent


Pathogenesis

  • Most active at night
  • Painful, irritating bites
    • Only females suck blood
  • Transmit human diseases
    • Viruses such as dengue fever, encephalitis and yellow fever
    • Parasites such as malaria caused by Plasmodium and filarial nematodes which cause elephantosis (Wuchereria and Brugia)


Control

  • Destroy breeding sites by drainage and removal of objects which collect water
  • Repeat applications of insecticides
    • Synthetic pyrethroids sprayed from helicopters
    • Mineral oils applied to breeding sites
  • Education
  • Future control methods being developed, such as genetic engineering and biological control methods