Description of the egg of Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae) using variable pressure scanning electron microscopy.

The egg of Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus (Theobald) is described with the aid of variable pressure scanning electron micrographs. The egg is black, cigar shaped, and tapers ventrally. The length is approximately 591 microm and the width is approximately 172 microm.

Laboratory colonization of Aedes japonicus japonicus.

We describe methodology used for the laboratory colonization of Aedes japonicus japonicus, an exotic mosquito species native to eastern Asia and first collected in New Jersey as larvae in 1999. We created a free mating colony in 2000 that readily bloodfed on restrained bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). A larval diet of finely ground Purina Lab Diet dissolved in dechlorinated water has proven acceptable.

Finding needles in the haystack: single copy microsatellite loci for Aedes japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae).

First identified in three North American states in 1998, Aedes japonicus japonicus, the Asian bush mosquito, has since spread to 21 states, plus Ontario in Canada, northern France, and Belgium. Analyses of the introduction and expansion of this potentially deadly disease vector will be radically improved by including powerful genetic markers like microsatellites. Useful microsatellite loci have, however, been difficult to identify for mosquitoes in the genus Aedes because of the high amount of repetitive DNA in these species.