Aedes aegypti, commonly known as the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread the dengue fever, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases as well. The mosquito can be recognized by white markings and a marking of the form of a lyre on the thorax, although other mosquitos may have only slightly different patterns.citation needed The mosquito is most frequently found in the tropics[1]; it has some presence in the southeastern United States (such as the lower half of Florida), but it seems to have been competitively displaced by the introduction of Aedes albopictuscitation needed.
The genome of this species of mosquito was sequenced by a consortium including scientists at the J Craig Venter Institute and the University of Notre Dame, and published in 2007. The effort in sequencing its DNA was intended to provide new avenues for research into insecticides and possible genetic modification to prevent the spread of disease. This was the second mosquito species to have its genome sequenced in full (the first was Anopheles gambiae). The published data included the 1.38 billion base pairs containing the insect's estimated 15,419 protein encoding genes. The sequence indicates that the species diverged from Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly) about 250 million years ago, and that Anopheles gambiae and this species diverged about 150 million years ago.[2][3]
The CDC traveler's page on preventing dengue fever suggests using mosquito repellents that contain DEET (N, N-diethylmetatoluamide). It also explains the following:
Although it may feed at any time, the mosquito bites humans only between a few hours after dawn until an hour or so after sunset.
The mosquito's preferred breeding areas are in areas of stagnant water, such as flower vases, uncovered barrels, buckets, and discarded tires, but the most dangerous areas are wet shower floors and toilet tanks, as they allow the mosquitos to breed right in the residence.
References
^ Womack, M. (1993). "The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.". Wing Beats5 (4): 4.
