''Culex nigripalpus'' (Florida SLE mosquito) is a species of medium-sized, dark, blood-feeding

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 ...

of the family

Culicidae 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 ...

Distribution

''Culex nigripalpus'' has been found to occur in the following countries: Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Venezuela, Virgin Islands. In the United States, it is found from Texas to North Carolina in warm, humid coastal habitats and in the Mississippi River basin as far north as Kentucky.

Ecology

''Culex nigripalpus'' larvae live in fresh water in semi-permanent or permanent marshes, ditches, retention ponds, and grassy pools, and females prefer to lay eggs in freshly flooded ditches.

Medical significance

''Culex nigripalpus'' is a principal disease vector in Florida – the primary

enzootic Enzootic describes the situation where a disease or pathogen is continuously present in at least one species of non-human animal in a particular region. It is the non-human equivalent of endemic. In epizoology, an infection is said to be "''enzo ...

vector to wild birds and the primary

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

vector to humans of the

Saint Louis encephalitis Saint Louis encephalitis is a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Saint Louis encephalitis virus. Saint Louis encephalitis virus is a member of the family ''Flaviviridae'' related to West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis virus. Saint Lo ...

(SLE) virus. It has been experimentally demonstrated to be capable of transmitting

West Nile virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family ''Flaviviridae'', from the genus ''Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The virus ...

(WNV). Its habit of feeding on both birds and humans gives it significant potential for transmission of

zoonotic A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a virus, bacterium, parasite, fungi, or prion) that can jump from a non-human vertebrate to a human. When h ...

infections from birds to humans. It is also a vector of transmission of

Eastern equine encephalitis Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), also called triple E and sleeping sickness, is a viral disease caused mainly by the Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). Most infections in humans are asymptomatic, but about 5% of the time the infection p ...

(EEE), dog heartworm, and

Avian malaria Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds, caused by parasite species belonging to the genera ''Plasmodium'' and '' Hemoproteus'' (phylum Apicomplexa, class Haemosporidia, family Plasmoiidae). The disease is transmitted by a dipteran vector in ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13854399 nigripalpus Insects described in 1901 Taxa named by Frederick Vincent Theobald Diptera of North America