''Culex restuans'' is a species of

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

known to occur in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. It is a

disease vector In epidemiology, a disease vector is any living agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen to another living organism; agents regarded as vectors are organisms, such as parasites or microbes. The first major discovery of a disease v ...

for St. Louis encephalitis and

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 ...

. In 2013 West Nile Virus positive specimens were collected in Southern California.

Entomophthoraceae Entomophthoraceae is a family of fungi in the order Entomophthorales. This has been supported by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Gryganskyi et al. 2012).Gryganskyi AP, Humber RA, Smith ME et al (2012) Molecular phylogeny of the Entomophthorom ...

family,

fungus A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

Species ''

Erynia conica Erynia may refer to: * 889 Erynia, a minor planet * ''Erynia'' (fungus), a genus in the family Entomophthoraceae See also * ''Erynnia ''Erynnia'' is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae. Species *'' E. condecens'' Reinhard, 1968 *'' E. ...

'' infects (and kills) mosquitos ''

Aedes aegypti ''Aedes aegypti'', the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its l ...

'' and ''Culex restuans''. Attempts are being made to use it as a biological control for the insect.

References

restuans Insects described in 1901 {{Culicidae-stub