Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say, 1923

Cooper, David, Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki, Macdonald, David, Nanova, Olga, Yudin, Viktor, Dugmore, Andrew & Kitchener, Andrew, 2020, Taxonomy, ecology and distribution of the mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of the Dutch Leeward Islands, with a key to the adults and fourth instar larvae, Contributions to Zoology 89 (1), pp. 373-392 : 383

Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say, 1923

Culex quinquefasciatus is strongly associated with urbanization, as it prefers artificial containers and polluted groundwater as larval habitats ( Belkin et al., 1970). The species had been already introduced into the New World from Africa before 1800 (Belkin, 1962). As expected, Cx. quinquefasciatus was present in urban habitats on all three islands. Because of the complexity of the Cx. pipiens complex, of which Cx. quinquefasciatus is a member, we did not delve deeper into the identification of this species on the Dutch Leeward Islands. All (sub)tropical populations from the New World have been considered to be Cx. quinquefasciatus although Culex pipiens s.s. was also introduced to the Americas ( Harbach, 2012). The two lack clear morphological differences and interbreed within their non-native range ( Cornel et al., 2012). Only a genetic study of the Caribbean populations can reveal their identity.