Aedes (Ochlerotatus) communis ( de Geer, 1776 )

Kirik, Heli, Tummeleht, Lea & Kurina, Olavi, 2022, Rediscovering the mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of Estonia: an annotated checklist with distribution maps and DNA evidence, Zootaxa 5094 (2), pp. 261-287 : 267

7. Aedes (Ochlerotatus) communis ( de Geer, 1776)

( Fig. 2F )

Published sources: Remm (1957: 155), Burtin (2014: 44), Kirik et al. (2021: 11).

Voucher material: 1♀, Tõrve (58° 37′ 40″ N, 26° 23′ 48″ E), 27.VI–01.VII.2018, H. Kirik leg., H. Kirik det., Mosquito Magnet trap, IZBE0210190 , GenBank: OK465145 ; 1♀, Tartu (58° 23′ 40″ N, 26° 44′ 05″ E), 06.VI.2017, H. Kirik leg., H. Kirik det., sweep net, IZBE0210191 , GenBank: OK465146 ; 1♂, Tartu (58° 23′ 24″ N, 26° 44′ 40″ E), 17.V.2015, O. Kurina leg., O. Kurina det., sweep net, IZBE0210192 .

Comment: 7,316 mosquitoes (30.1% of all specimens collected) were identified as Ae. communis , making it the dominant species in Estonia. Aedes communis can be found everywhere in the country. It is especially numerous during May and June, but individuals can be found until October. Importantly, there appears to be two distinct mitochondrial lineages in the area, which can make DNA barcoding difficult, as some COI sequences appear to be very similar to the North American Ae. tahoensis ( Dyar, 1916) ( Kirik et al. 2020).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maps showing the historic and current collection points of individual mosquito species in Estonia. A, Aedes (Aedes) cinereus; B, Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans; C, Aedes annulipes group; D, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) caspius; E, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) cataphylla; F, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) communis; G, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) cyprius; H, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) diantaeus. Numbers indicate original data and correspond to on the numbers in Fig. 1. Red diamonds indicate localities collected by Remm (1955). In cases where Remm indicated the species was widely distributed in Estonia, the area is shaded in gray.