Cause of Dengue: Aedes MosquitoAedes aegypti, commonly known as the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can host the dengue fever, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses (and other diseases as well). One group of researchers recently proposed that A. aegypti be renamed Stegomyia aegypti [1], but this proposal has yet to be widely accepted by the scientific community. The mosquito can be recognized by white markings, although other mosquitos may have only slightly different patterns.[citation needed] The mosquito is most frequently found in the tropics[2]; 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 albopictus.
Lifecycle of Aedes Mosquito
 |
Under optimal conditions, the egg of an Aedes mosquito can hatch into a larva in less than a day. The larva then takes about four days to develop in a pupa, from which an adult mosquito will emerge after two days. Three days after the mosquito has bitten a person and taken in blood, it will lay eggs, and the cycle begins again. |
| Fast facts about the mosquito |
- Only the female aedes mosquito bites as it needs the protein in blood to develop its eggs.
- The mosquito becomes infective approximately 7 days after it has bitten a person carrying the virus. This is the extrinsic incubation period, during which time the virus replicates in the mosquito and reaches the salivary glands.
- Peak biting is at dawn and dusk.
- The average lifespan of an Aedes mosquito in Nature is 2 weeks
- The mosquito can lay eggs about 3 times in its lifetime, and about 100 eggs are produced each time.
- The eggs can lie dormant in dry conditions for up to about 9 months, after which they can hatch if exposed to favourable conditions, i.e. water and food
References: 1. Reinert, J. F., R. E. Harbach & I. J. Kitching (2004). Phylogeny and classification of Aedini (Diptera: Culicidae), based on morphological characters of all life stages. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 142: 289–368. 2. Womack, M. (1993). "The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.". Wing Beats 5 (4): 4.
Main Resource: Campaign Against Dengue by Singapore Government (http://www.dengue.gov.sg)
|