during winter but is dominant during mid- to late summer. The species can colonize shallow vegetated fresh water pools within one day of formation, and most larvae are associated with the vegetation; maximum densities may be attained in about a week, but densities may then gradually decline as the habitat becomes stabilized with a greater range of fauna, including other insects that prey on mosquitoes (McDonald and Buchanan 1981).

doi:10.4324/9780203027851-43

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during winter but is dominant during mid- to late summer. The species can colonize shallow vegetated fresh water pools within one day of formation, and most larvae are associated with the vegetation; maximum densities may be attained in about a week, but densities may then gradually decline as the habitat becomes stabilized with a greater range of fauna, including other insects that prey on mosquitoes (McDonald and Buchanan 1981).

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ABSTRACT

The generally abundant summer pest mosquito in inland area, Culex annulirostris, is the major vector of the life-threatening Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) and Kunjin flaviviruses, the debilitating arthritis-causing Ross River (RR) and Barmah Forest (BF) alphaviruses, and other arboviruses in Australia (Russell 1993; 1994; 1995). This mosquito was also associated with Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus in the recent outbreak in the Torres Strait islands, and if JE virus was to invade and become established on the mainland, Culex annulirostris could become involved in the transmission of this life-threatening virus over a very large area of Australia, north and south.