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Culicidae > Culicinae > Aedini

Distribution
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Virgin Islands

Distribution map

Synonyms
None

Bionomics
Psorophora are called flood-water mosquitoes because females lay their eggs on damp or dry mud and debris in fields and wooded plains where they may withstand long periods (months or years) of desiccation and hatch when the habitat is inundated by rain or flood waters. Larvae of the subgenus Psorophora are predacious. The females of many species avidly bite humans.

Important References >> 		habitus image Representative species shown here:
Psorophora ferox

Genus-specific Diagnostic Characters, Adult Stage:
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1. Postspiracular setae present,
2. Prespiracular setae present,
3. Erect scales of head numerous on vertex and occiput.

Recommended characters:
4. Base of hindcoxa distinctly ventral to base of mesomeron,
5. Lower mesepimeral setae present.

Genus-specific Diagnostic Characters, Larval Stage >>

Medical Importance
Several species of Psorophora are vectors of arboviruses. Ilheus virus is transmitted by Ps. ferox and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus by Ps. ferox and Ps. confinnis.