''Aedes sollicitans'', the eastern saltmarsh mosquito (also known as ''Ochlerotatus sollicitans''), is a species of mosquito native to the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada as well as the entire Gulf coast and is also present in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

. While primarily found in coastal areas within a few miles of the coast, it is occasionally found inland in areas with saline pools, the species was reported as far west as Arizona. The species is a prime vector for Eastern equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and dog heartworm.

Description

''Aedes sollicitans'' has a conspicuous band of white scales around the central area of the

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

and the anterior portion of the hind tarsomeres upon which there is also band a band of yellow scales in the middle. The abdomen has white basal bands and is divided by a medial longitudinal stripe. The

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

is white on the sides and the top is brown, yellow, golden and white.

Similar Species

''A. sollicitans'' resembles ''

Aedes taeniorhynchus ''Aedes taeniorhynchus'', or the black salt marsh mosquito, is a mosquito in the family Culicidae. It is a carrier for encephalitic viruses including Venezuelan equine encephalitis and can transmit ''Dirofilaria immitis''. It resides in the Amer ...

'' but the two species can be distinguished at the larval and adult stages. Larval ''A. sollicitans'' have longer breathing tubes, have scale patches with pointed tips, and larger spines that line the edges of each scale patch. Adult ''A. sollicitans'' are golden brown while adult ''Aedes taeniorhychus'' are black and smaller in size.

Habitat

''A. sollicitans'' tends to stay within 5 miles of the coast on average all the range can be greater dependent upon a number of factors such as wind speed and duration.

Food Resources

It tends to feed most actively at twilight but is an opportunistic feeder which will feed a host species that enters its area in daytime. The female requires one blood meal for each egg batch with the primary host species being mammals, and birds as a secondary host.

Oviposition

The female ''Aedes sollicitans'' lays her eggs on the dried out substrate of salt pannes, depressions within salt marshes which dry out between periods of very high tide (

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

). The eggs hatch upon the panne filling at the next spring tide in 4–5 days with optimal conditions. In the south the peak amount of adults occurs in the spring and fall, and in the northern portion of its range peak adult population occurs in the summer. The last batches of eggs laid in the fall remain in

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

until the spring.O'Meara, G. F. 1992. The eastern saltmarsh mosquito ''Aedes sollicitans''. Wing Beats, Vol. 3(4):5.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4687470 solicitans Diptera of North America Insects described in 1856