A New rapidly-spreading Mosquito Species Discovered in Florida
In a worrying development, a new mosquito species has been discovered in Florida that could potentially transmit mosquito-borne diseases. The Culex lactator mosquito, which is found in Central and northern South America, has already established a permanent home in at least three counties in the state. Scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences discovered the species in Miami-Dade County in 2018 while they were looking for other nonnative mosquitoes. They recently published their findings in the Journal of Medical Entomology. Difficult to Predict the Implications The Culex group of mosquitoes includes important species that transmit the West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis viruses. While it is too early to say whether Culex lactator will exacerbate these challenges, the implications are difficult to predict since not all mosquito species are equally capable of transmitting a particular virus or other pathogen. Lawrence Reeves, lead author o...