Herman A. Ehrenberg, Bergen County MEC
Reproduced from the Proceedings of the 70th Annual Meeting of the NJMCA. Please use the following citation when referring to this article:
Ehrenberg, H. A. 1983. Aedes spencerii spencerii in New Jersey. Proc. N. J. Mosquito Control Assoc. pp.
AEDES SPENCERII SPENCERII IN NEW JERSEY
The first recorded capture of Aedes spencerii spencerii in New Jersey occurred at Little Ferry, Bergen County, on September 9, 1972. One female was trapped in a New Jersey light trap.
The identification was made by the Bergen County Mosquito Extermination Commission. The specimen was deposited at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, where the identification was confirmed.
In May 1973, another single female Ae. s. spencerii was trapped in a New Jersey light trap at Lyndhurst, Bergen County. This trap was three miles from the Little Ferry trap.
In June 1980, a third female was trapped in a New Jersey light trap at Teterboro, Bergen County. This site is one mile from the Little Ferry trap and three miles from the Lyndhurst trap. The three sites, where the Ae. s. spencerii were found, are all located in the Hackensack Meadowlands. This area consists mostly of fresh water and large zones of dike meadow. Most of the meadow is covered with a heavy covering of Giant Foxtail with smaller areas of Goldenrod, Cat Brier, Blackberry, Milkweed and Tussock Sedge. During periods of excessive precipitation, many areas flood and numerous floodwater mosquitoes. mainly Ae. vexans, hatch.
A fourth Ae. s. spencerii was also trapped, although outside of Bergen County. This single female was trapped in June 1978, at Basking Ridge, Somerset County, one mile from the Great Swamp. No Ae. s. spencerii larvae have been found in New Jersey. No strenuous effort has been made to look for larvae since they seem to be breeding simultaneously with Ae. vexans making the potential breeding sites plentiful. Ae. s. spencerii are presumably present in minute numbers in some areas of Northern New Jersey during the spring and/or the fall. This is generally after periods of excessive precipitation when large populations of floodwater mosquitoes are present.
We, as a mosquito control commission, have to direct our efforts toward controlling the species of mosquito that are vectors of disease or are breeding in nuisance aggregations. This does not leave us the necessary resources to look for, or study the distribution of the rarer species of mosquito such as Ae. s. spencerii.
REFERENCES CITED
- Carpenter, S.J. and W.J. LaCasse. 1955. Mosquitoes of North America (North of Mexico) Page 229-23 1. University of California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles.
- Crans, W.J. 1970. The occurrence of Aedes flavescens, Psorophora cyanescens and Culex erraticus in New Jersey. Mosq. News 30:655.
- Crans, W.J. and L.E. Hagmann. 1965. Two new mosquito records for New Jersey. Proc. 52nd. Meeting, New Jersey Mosquito Control Association, Page 206-207.
- Darsie, Jr., R.F. and R.A. Ward. 1981. Identification and geographical distribution of the mosquitoes of North America, North of Mexico. Mosquito Suppl. 1: 1-313.
- Rupp, H.R. Somerset County 1983. Personal communication.
PAT SLAVIN: You mentioned the name of another subspecies. Are there other subspecies? I take it there are.
HERMAN EHRENBERG: There is another species but it is not in New Jersey. You would have to ask Wayne Crans about that.