{"title":"Taxonomic history, biology and ecology of Culex (Microculex) (Diptera: Culicidae)","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107387","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Microculex</em> is a subgenus of <em>Culex</em> that is mainly associated with natural breeding sites in wild environments such as cut bamboos, tree holes and bromeliads. However, recent findings of <em>Culex</em> (<em>Microculex</em>) species in bromeliads in urban areas and in artificial breeding sites close to human habitations suggest that they are becoming more tolerant of urbanization. Whilst dispersion studies of this subgenus have shown the ecological valency of some species in relation to human-impacted areas, there is a scarcity of studies on the blood-feeding habits, vector capacity and taxonomy of <em>Microculex</em>. As all the information about this subgenus is fragmented and restricted in most cases to physical libraries, this review seeks to compile all the information on <em>Microculex</em> published over the last century and a half so that this can be more easily consulted by specialists interested in the subject. The ability of some species of this subgenus to adapt to human-impacted environments by colonizing artificial breeding sites and thus become a potential vector of animal and human diseases is also discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta tropica","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001706X24002699","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Microculex is a subgenus of Culex that is mainly associated with natural breeding sites in wild environments such as cut bamboos, tree holes and bromeliads. However, recent findings of Culex (Microculex) species in bromeliads in urban areas and in artificial breeding sites close to human habitations suggest that they are becoming more tolerant of urbanization. Whilst dispersion studies of this subgenus have shown the ecological valency of some species in relation to human-impacted areas, there is a scarcity of studies on the blood-feeding habits, vector capacity and taxonomy of Microculex. As all the information about this subgenus is fragmented and restricted in most cases to physical libraries, this review seeks to compile all the information on Microculex published over the last century and a half so that this can be more easily consulted by specialists interested in the subject. The ability of some species of this subgenus to adapt to human-impacted environments by colonizing artificial breeding sites and thus become a potential vector of animal and human diseases is also discussed.
期刊介绍:
Acta Tropica, is an international journal on infectious diseases that covers public health sciences and biomedical research with particular emphasis on topics relevant to human and animal health in the tropics and the subtropics.