© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Lytra & Emmanouel
16
and Curtin, 1965; Harbach, 1985; Samanidou
and Harbach, 2003; Becker
et al
., 2010).
Culex tritaeniorhynchus
was permanent-
ly present
in large numbers in the samples,
ranging from 125 to 198 individuals per
sampling (adults derived after the immature
rearing).
Culex tritaeniorhynchus
is recorded
for the first time
in Aitoloakarnania, Western
Greece. Although there is a severe nuisance
from mosquitoes in this area, available data
for the mosquito species that breed in these
rice fields are lucking and no relevant con-
trol programs have been conducted for de-
cades.
These findings are important because
Cx. tritaeniorhynchus
is a potential vector of
pathogens that cause human diseases. It is
the primary vector of Japanese encephali-
tis (JE) in southern Asia and has also been
found infected with Dengue, Rift Valley fe-
ver, Sindbis, Getah and Tembusu viruses,
and microfilariae of both
Brugia malayi
and
Wuchereria bancrofti
, in many areas of east-
ern and southeastern Asia (Lacey and Lacey,
1990). The females of
Cx. tritaeniorhynchus
feed primarily on domestic animals such as
cattle and pigs, but will bite man in their ab-
sence (Bram, 1967). They mainly bite out-
doors between sunset and midnight, but
may enter in cattle sheds and dwellings and
Figure 1.
Areas where
Culex tritaeniorhynchus
has been recorded in Greece: Marathon, Prefecture of Attica in 2003 (first re-
port); Delta of Acheloos River, Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania from 2008 to 2013.
1...,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,...34