Publications by authors named "Wayne J Crans"

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.

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West Nile virus (WNV) was detected by Taqman reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 4 of 85 (4.7%) blood-engorged (n = 2) and unengorged (n = 2) Icosta americana (Leach) hippoboscid flies that were collected from wild raptors submitted to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Mercer County, NJ, in 2003. This report represents an additional detection of WNV in a nonculicine arthropod in North America and the first documented detection of the virus in unengorged hippoboscid flies, further suggesting a possible role that this species may play in the transmission of WNV in North America.

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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.

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In total, 1,324 Culex pipiens pipiens L. female mosquitoes were collected at Ft. Hancock, Monmouth County, New Jersey, from January to March 2001-2003.

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A system for the classification of mosquito life cycle types is presented for mosquito species found in the northeastern United States. Primary subdivisions include Univoltine Aedine, Multivoltine Aedine, Multivoltine Culex/Anopheles, and Unique Life Cycle Types. A montotypic subdivision groups life cycle types restricted to single species.

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Blocks of expanded polystyrene (EPS) were placed in a variety of habitats to investigate their potential as an egg-collection device for container-dwelling Aedes and Ochlerotatus species. Eggs from Ochlerotatus japonicus, Oc. triseriatus, Oc.

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The structure of the larval siphon and spiracular apparatus of Coquillettidia perturbans and the mechanism of attachment to roots of emergent aquatic macrophytes were examined by utilizing dissection and scanning electron microscopy. The roots of these plants contain large air-filled aerenchyma channels that larvae of Cq. perturbans pierce with their specialized siphon and spiracular apparatus to breathe.

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