British Culex pipiens complex [Culex pipiens sensu lato) mosquito distribution, abundance, and potential for disease transmission are intimately linked to their environment. Pond and lake dyes that block light to restrict algal photosynthesis are a relatively new product assumed to be an environmentally friendly since they are based on food dyes. Their use in urban garden ponds raises questions...

We report construction of a comparative linkage map for the mosquito (Culex pipiens) based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) using cDNA clones from Aedes aegypti as probes to Southern blots of Cx. pipiens genomic DNA. Seventy-one cDNA clones were screened for hybridization and genetic diversity among three Cx. pipiens strains. Fifty-two of 71 cDNA clones, isolated from and pr...

Bacillus sphaericus was used to control Culex pipiens breeding in a water treatment settling basin near Montpellier, France. Four treatments with 4 liters/ha (3.6 lb/acre) of commercially available B. sphaericus formulation (Vectolex) reduced the larval population of Cx. pipiens with 50-600 spores of B. sphaericus/ml recorded in the treated portions of the water plant 14 days following the last...

Microsatellites were isolated and characterized in the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens , a widespread pest species and important vector of diseases such as West Nile virus. An enrichment protocol yielded 150 positive clones. We designed primers to amplify 17 unique (GT) n microsatellites, eight of which amplified cleanly and were polymorphic. A survey of 29 individuals showed that these ...

Despite the presence of Culex (Cx.) pipiens mosquitoes and circulation of West Nile virus (WNV), WNV outbreaks have so far not occurred in northern Europe. The species Cx. pipiens consists of two morphologically identical biotypes, pipiens and molestus, which can form hybrids. Until now, population dynamic studies of Cx. pipiens have not differentiated between biotypes and hybrids at the Europe...

Nucleotide sequence information on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and ITS 2 regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA multigene family was used to develop a polymerase chain reaction assay that identifies Culex nigripalpus Theobald. The assay uses species-specific forward and reverse primers for Cx. nigripalpus and can be used along with previously described primers to distinguish among 4 commo...

In mosquitoes, spirochetes were first detected in 1907, when Jaffé reported a spirochete in Culex sp. and named it Spirochaeta culicis (Arch. Protistenkd. 9: 100-107.). Spirochetes were also detected in Anopheles funestus and A. maculipennis (Sinton J.A., Shute P.G. 1939: J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 42: 125-126) and in the salivary glands of Anopheles gambiae (Masseguin A., Palinacci A. 1954: Bull. Soc....

The developmental period for the parasitic stage of Romanomermis culicivorax in Culex pipiens was determined at constant and fluctuating temperatures. The median developmental times at 15, 18, 20, 27, and 32 C were 27.6, 17.2, 11.5, 7.1, and 5.8 days, respectively. The optimum temperature range for development of the parasitic stage in C. pipiens was 20 to 32 C. The threshold for development wa...