| Description: | This mosquito, known as Aedes japonicus (also called Ochlerotatus japonicus), is a specimen of the Notre Dame colony. This Asian mosquito was first collected in the United States in New York and New Jersey in 1998. The Aedes japonicus Notre Dame colony was established from specimens collected as larvae in water filled containers (flower pots and tires) in residential areas of South Bend, Indiana in the summer of 2005. This mosquito is suspected of being a vector of the Japanese Encephalitis virus in Asia and the West Nile in the United States. While Aedes japonicus has not been incriminated as a major vector of West Nile virus in the United States, it is nevertheless of concern to public health agencies because of its fairly rapid colonization of a large part of the north eastern and midwestern United States and its propensity to lay eggs in flooded containers found around human dwellings. |
