):Mosquito Menace:( - Aedes Mosquito

Aedes Mosquitoes

Aedes (Greek aēdēs= unpleasant or odious, because of the diseases that it transmits) is a genus of mosquito distributed all over the tropical and subtropical world that transmits many viral and parasitic diseases including dengue fever, Chikungunya, yellow fever, human lymphatic filariasis and others. Primarily found in Asian countries, these mosquitoes have spread elsewhere through aircrafts and merchant ships. A. aegypti, A. queenslandensis, A. albopictus and A. polynesiensis are some important species that transmit diseases to humans.

Structure and Habits

Aedes are small, dark mosquitoes with conspicuous white markings and banded legs, hence often called as Tiger Mosquitoes. Only the female mosquitoes bite humans between a few hours after dawn till an hour or so after sunset, with peaks of activity at mid-morning and late afternoon. These mosquitoes seek human skin from underneath desks or chairs and mainly at the feet and ankles, without much humming sound. These mosquitoes live close to human dwellings, usually within ninety meters. The females usually fly for a distance of 50m, but are capable of going up to 100-200m and reach up to 3km looking for sites for egg laying. They rest in dark corners under beds and closets and on walls. Although they can live for months, most die within a month and some within a week

Image of Aedes biting a human being:
[Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Aedes_aegypti_biting_human.jpg]

Breeding

After the blood meal to nourish its eggs, the mosquito lays eggs singly or in rafts, in the mornings and late afternoon. Aedes prefers to lay eggs on the water collected in the containers with hard walls. While automobile tires are the most common sites, containers of different sizes and types like large cement water tanks, drums, barrels, tins, cans, bottles, vases, ornamental plant containers, buckets, milk cans, roof gutters, animal drinking bowls, drains, gully traps, water stopcock pits, lightning-conductor chambers, inspection chamber covers, air-conditioner trays, toilet bowls and cisterns and unused toilets and natural water collections like tree holes, rock holes, leaf axils, fallen leaves, ground depressions and wells are common sites for Aedes breeding. The eggs can remain dry for almost an year and be transported and a little rain can promote development of adults. The development into adult takes about 7-14 days.

Breeding Sites for Aedes Mosquitoes
[Source: http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec10991/pic1.gif]

Sources

Outbreak Alerts

ŠBS Kakkilaya 2006-2009
Šmosquitomenace.com