Richard C. Wilkerson - Mosquitoes of the World (Volumes 1 and 2)

Mosquitoes of the World

VOLUME 1

Richard C. Wilkerson, Yvonne-Marie Linton, and Daniel Strickman

Johns Hopkins University Press

BALTIMORE

2021 Johns Hopkins University Press

All rights reserved. Published 2021

Printed in China on acid-free paper

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wilkerson, Richard C., 1946 author. | Linton, Yvonne-Marie, 1972 author. | Strickman, Daniel, author.

Title: Mosquitoes of the world / Richard C. Wilkerson, Yvonne-Marie Linton, and Daniel Strickman.

Description: Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019041641 | ISBN 9781421438146 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781421438153 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Mosquitoes.

Classification: LCC QL536 .S798 2020 | DDC 595.77/2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019041641

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

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To my wife, Roxie Ann, with love, for her understanding, tolerance, and support, especially during preparation of this book

Richard C. Wilkerson

For my ever-patient husband, Luke, and our resilient little warriorsMessiah, Serenity, and Pierre. I chose each and every one of you, and love you completely

Yvonne-Marie Linton

With gratitude to the thousands of scientists who came before, sympathy for the millions who have died because of mosquito bites, and love for my spouse and children, who supported me during a careers worth of absences

Daniel Strickman

Within recent years, so much has been written about mosquitoes, and scattered through such a vast number of books and periodicals, that the average student now sorely feels the need of a single work, containing, in a condensed form, the essential facts so far made known in regard to the different phases of this important and highly interesting subject. It was to meet the demands of the constantly increasing army of both professional and lay workers that the present volume was designed.

Mitchell and Dupree 1907

Mitchell and Dupree would be amazed by the progress in knowledge and technology achieved since they wrote these prescient words in their introduction to Mosquito Life over a century ago; and today our rationale for writing Mosquitoes of the World is exactly the sameto facilitate the future fight against mosquitoes through a holistic understanding of their diversity, systematics, and associated biology. In many ways, this book is a celebration of the mosquito as a fascinating product of evolution. Of course, there can be no doubt that certain mosquitoes are responsible for much human suffering. Almost half a million people die from malaria and millions more suffer dengue annually, and unanticipated outbreaks of diseases like chikungunya and Zika cause fear and pain. Partnerships between science, industry, and public health agencies relentlessly strive to decrease the burden of mosquito-transmitted diseases, and we hope never to return to the days when yellow fever and malaria were major demographic forces in human ecology. The authors have spent the past eight years preparing this extensive summary of the biology, taxonomy, systematics, and global distribution of mosquitoes. Reviewing every known species certainly gives one an appreciation for the volume of scientific works that can occur during a couple of centuries, and especially for the variety of mosquitoes currently living on our planet. We were also impressed with the complexity of mosquito biology, sometimes feeling as though we were wandering through a national park full of wonders.

Volume 1 is divided in two distinct sections. comprises a thorough walk-through of mosquito biology over 10 chapters, starting with crosscutting subjects including evolution, nomenclature, and distribution. The biology section continues through the mosquito life cycle, with focus on development, dormancy, movement, feeding, excretion, mating, and oviposition. Mosquito control was not tackled for a number of reasons, not least the availability of many other reviews, and the rapid pace of change in this field.

The second part of Volume 1 comprises a series of illustrated pages summarizing the diagnostic morphological characters, systematics, distributions, bionomics, associated pathogens and exemplar DNA sequences for each of the 41 recognized mosquito genera, and 128 carefully chosen, globally important species. These genera and species pages include published illustrations of larval characters and male genitalia, and high-resolution photographs of adult female characters. In addition to showcasing mosquito biodiversity, we intend that these pages will furnish researchers with practical morphological and molecular tools to aid future identification of these important taxa. presents as an extensive Glossary of all taxonomic terms used in the second part of Volume 1.

Volume 2 is presented as a stand-alone taxonomic catalog of all described mosquito species, including fossils and synonyms. This volume comprises the first printed catalog since Knight and Stone published their seminal volume in 1977. The progression of taxonomic knowledge in the 20th century was impressive, fueled by data from newly discovered species. While Edwards (1932) listed 1,556 species, Stone, Knight, and Starcke treated 2,609 species and subspecies, and Knight and Stone reported 3,133. Our catalog (Volume 2) documents 3,700 taxa comprising 3,570 valid species and 130 subspecies, representing a further increase of 16%. Given the current global taxonomic impediment, we felt compelled to produce this printed catalog to fix and stabilize mosquito taxonomy both for the convenience of the user and, but most importantly, to serve as a baseline for future discoveries as they occur. This updated catalog provides a systematic listing of genus, subgenus, species, subspecies, and current synonyms for all valid Culicid taxa (including fossils and nomina dubia), fully referenced with important studies on the taxonomy, systematics, bionomics, and country-level distributions for each entity. Significant efforts were undertaken to include the etymology of each valid scientific name, and these are included in the catalog, along with a proposed informal name, for the first time. Informal species and subspecies names were proposed based on a formula of genus common names combined with type locality and a species characteristic. It is hoped that informal names will stabilize nomenclature, involve a wider audience in the biology of species that do not affect health, and stimulate productive discussion of the names themselves.

We are all thankful to the US Department of Defense Medical Research and Materiel Command, the US Army, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History (SI-NMNH) for their steadfast support of mosquito taxonomy and research. The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU) is housed within the SI-NMNH, where it has conducted mosquito research and curated the US National Mosquito Collection for almost 60 years, funded monetarily and in kind by both institutions. A long succession of dedicated civilian and military scientists has contributed to this patient mission, training taxonomists, advancing the field of mosquito biology, and accumulating this important reference collection to its 1.7 million specimens today. All three authors have had the privilege of leading the WRBU. Many of the photographs, illustrations, current distributions, and the taxonomic background for this book were generated from materials and products developed and maintained by the WRBU under their stewardship. We are grateful for the institutional support of WRBU, WRAIR, SI-NMNH, the US Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service (USDA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and the financial support of the US Army for this publication. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors, and do not in any way reflect the opinions of the US Department of Defense or the US Department of the Army.