''Aedes mcintoshi'' is a species complex of zoophilic

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

belonging to the genus ''

Aedes ''Aedes'' (also known as the tiger mosquito) is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: ''Aedes albopictus'', ...

''.

Distribution

This mosquito species prefers shallow wetland regions known as

dambo A dambo is a class of complex shallow wetlands in central, southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. They are generally found in higher rainfall flat plateau areas and have river-like branching forms which in themsel ...

habitats like those found in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Its presence has also been recorded in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Description

Females deposit their eggs in areas that are likely to flood, with the eggs being able to sustain hatching until they have been submerged for a significant period of time.

Medical importance

''Aedes mcintoshi'' has been described as a primary vector for

Rift Valley fever virus In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben w ...

. It can transmit this virus to other hosts during the act of blood-feeding, as well as to its own progeny through

transovarial transmission Transovarial or transovarian transmission (transmission from parent to offspring via the ovaries) occurs in certain arthropod vectors as they transmit pathogens from parent to offspring. This process, used by a wide variety of parasites, is also kn ...

. It is also a vector of pathogens such as '' Plasmodium spp.'',

Bunyamwera virus Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) is a negative-sense, single-stranded enveloped RNA virus. It is assigned to the '' Orthobunyavirus'' genus, in the ''Peribunyaviridae'' family. Bunyamwera virus can infect both humans and ''Aedes aegypti'' (yellow fever ...

, Pongola virus, and others.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14576904 mcintoshi Insects described in 1985