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Culiseta melanura

By Jacob Nelson

Ge­o­graphic Range

Culiseta mela­nura has a wide dis­tri­b­u­tion rang­ing from south­ern Que­bec, Canada all the way to south­ern Florida, and span­ning the United States from the east­ern bor­der of the Great Plains to the At­lantic coast. These mos­qui­toes have also been found in the Caribbean. (Hors­fall, 1955; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998a)

Habi­tat

Culiseta mela­nura are found in a wide va­ri­ety of places, from swampy wet­lands to pools of water in­side old tires. They typ­i­cally re­pro­duce in un­der­ground crypts and rot­ting trees. They are also fond of swampy acidic water with pH at or near 5.0. (Bur­butis and Lake, 1956; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998a; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998b)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Culiseta mela­nura have white, elon­gate eggs that darken and harden over the hours fol­low­ing ovipo­si­tion. Lar­vae are di­vided into three seg­ments: the head, the tho­rax and the ab­domen. The ab­domen it­self is di­vided into ten seg­ments, the last three of which form the siphon used for breath­ing. The aquatic pupa has a fused head and tho­rax, this form­ing the cephalotho­rax. C. mela­nura as adults have a body de­sign that is also sep­a­rated into three re­gions. The head bears the an­ten­nae, eyes, palpi and pro­boscis.

Males and fe­males are di­mor­phic. Their dif­fer­ences re­side in their an­ten­nae and palpi. Males have longer pro­boscises and an­ten­nae cov­ered with more hair than fe­males. (Miller and Nasci, 1996)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes shaped differently

De­vel­op­ment

The time it takes for the egg to hatch, lar­vae to ma­ture, and the adult to eclose from the pupa, is very de­pen­dent upon the am­bi­ent tem­per­a­ture. Both lar­vae and pupae are aquatic, but pupae do not feed. They are found respir­ing at the water sur­face of their habi­tats. When the mos­quito is ready to emerge from the pupa, the dor­sal skin on the cephalotho­rax splits, al­low­ing the adult to exit. (Bur­butis and Lake, 1956; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998a; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998b; Ser­vice, 2000)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Culiseta mela­nura have a unique life cycle for a mos­quito; the mos­quito over win­ters as a larva as op­posed to an adult. Eggs are laid singly onto the sur­face of water in crypts, which are stag­nant pools of water. Eggs can­not sur­vive with­out water, or they will dry out. Fe­males can oviposit be­tween 30 and 300 eggs at one time. The time it takes for the egg to hatch and un­dergo pu­pa­tion is de­pen­dent upon the tem­per­a­ture of the en­vi­ron­ment. Adults dis­perse and re­pro­duce within a 100 km ra­dius of the site where they emerged. (Bur­butis and Lake, 1956; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998a; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998b; Ser­vice, 2000)

  • Average eggs per season
    30 -300

Fe­males lay eggs in a place suit­able for lar­val de­vel­op­ment, after which there is no fur­ther parental in­volve­ment.

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Adults live from sev­eral days to sev­eral months de­pend­ing on nu­mer­ous abi­otic con­di­tions.

Be­hav­ior

Culiseta mela­nura is a soli­tary species. These mos­qui­toes do not travel in swarms al­though they may oviposite their eggs in the same crypt or water con­tainer. Fe­males are in­ter­mit­tent par­a­sites of birds. (Busvine, 1993)

Food Habits

Culiseta mela­nura adult males feed on the nec­tar from flow­ers, as the max­il­lae and mandibles are not de­vel­oped for pierc­ing skin, as are the mouth­parts of fe­males. The fe­male C. mela­nura is an in­ter­mit­tent par­a­site of birds, find­ing a host long enough for one blood meal and then leav­ing. This species of mos­quito is rarely at­tracted to mam­mals, and feeds al­most ex­clu­sively on birds. Fe­males lo­cate hosts and use their pro­boscis to pierce the epi­der­mis of the host in order to ob­tain a blood meal. After feed­ing is com­plete, the fe­male will leave the host and lo­cate a suit­able place to de­posit her eggs. Lar­vae live in the con­fines of hid­den crypts (small pools of acidic, stag­nant water) and typ­i­cally fil­ter feed on de­cay­ing plant mat­ter. (Burgess, 1990; Ser­vice, 2000)

  • Animal Foods
  • blood

Pre­da­tion

Mos­quito lar­vae are an im­por­tant food source for a va­ri­ety of aquatic or­gan­isms in­clud­ing fish and other in­sect lar­vae. Fish, in­sects, spi­ders, bats, frogs, and birds also prey upon the adults. (Bur­butis and Lake, 1956; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998b)

  • Known Predators
    • Bats, Birds, Spiders, Insects, Frogs, Fish

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

There is no ob­vi­ous eco­nomic ben­e­fit de­rived from this species.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Culiseta mela­nura is an im­por­tant vec­tor of East­ern Equine En­cephali­tis (EEE). The reser­voir for this virus is wild birds, the most im­por­tant of which is the ringed pheas­ant within the United States. Culiseta mela­nura is the pri­mary en­zootic vec­tor of EEE and birds serve as am­pli­fi­ca­tion hosts. Other mos­qui­toes serve in the trans­mis­sion of EEE to hu­mans, but with­out C. mela­nura, human in­fec­tion would be largely de­creased (Busvine, 1993; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998a; Mah­mood and Crans, 1998b)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

This species is in no dan­ger of ex­tinc­tion.

Con­trib­u­tors

Sara Di­a­mond (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Jacob Nel­son (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Barry OCon­nor (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

agricultural

living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

bog

a wetland area rich in accumulated plant material and with acidic soils surrounding a body of open water. Bogs have a flora dominated by sedges, heaths, and sphagnum.

brackish water

areas with salty water, usually in coastal marshes and estuaries.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

causes disease in humans

an animal which directly causes disease in humans. For example, diseases caused by infection of filarial nematodes (elephantiasis and river blindness).

causes or carries domestic animal disease

either directly causes, or indirectly transmits, a disease to a domestic animal

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

detritus

particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

marsh

marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.

metamorphosis

A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

parasite

an organism that obtains nutrients from other organisms in a harmful way that doesn't cause immediate death

riparian

Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).

sanguivore

an animal that mainly eats blood

semelparous

offspring are all produced in a single group (litter, clutch, etc.), after which the parent usually dies. Semelparous organisms often only live through a single season/year (or other periodic change in conditions) but may live for many seasons. In both cases reproduction occurs as a single investment of energy in offspring, with no future chance for investment in reproduction.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

suburban

living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.

swamp

a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

urban

living in cities and large towns, landscapes dominated by human structures and activity.

Ref­er­ences

Bur­butis, P., R. Lake. 1956. The Bi­ol­ogy of Culiseta mela­nura (Coq.) in New Jer­sey. Proc. N. J. Mosq. Ex­term. Assoc., 43: 155-161.

Burgess, N. 1990. Pub­lic Health Pests. NY: Chap­man and Hall.

Busvine, J. 1993. Dis­ease Trans­mis­sion by In­sects. NY: Springer-Ver­lag.

Hors­fall, W. 1955. Mos­qui­toes: Their Bio­nom­ics and Re­la­tion to Dis­ease. NY: The Ronald Press Com­pany.

Mah­mood, F., W. Crans. 1998. Ovar­ian De­vel­ope­ment and Par­ity De­ter­mi­na­tion in Culiseta mela­nura. J. Med. En­to­mol., 35(6): 980-988.

Mah­mood, F., W. Crans. 1998. Ef­fect of tem­per­a­ture on the de­vel­op­ment of Culiseta mela­nura (Diptera: Culi­ci­dae) and its im­pact on the am­pli­fi­ca­tion of East­ern Equine En­cephali­tis virus in birds. J. Med. En­to­mol, 35(6): 1007-1012.

Miller, B., R. Nasci. 1996. Culicine Mos­qui­toes and the Agent They Trans­mit. Pp. 85-97 in B Beaty, W Mar­quardt, eds. The Bi­ol­ogy of Dis­ease Vec­tors. Col­orado: Uni­ver­sity Press of Col­orado.

Ser­vice, M. 2000. Med­ical En­to­mol­ogy for Stu­dents. 2nd ed.. NY: Cam­bridge Uni­ver­sity Press.

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Classification

Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Class Insecta insects
  • Order Diptera
  • Family Culicidae
  • Genus Culiseta
  • Species Culiseta melanura