Abstract
BackgroundMosquito-borne pathogens are important causes of diseases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Knowledge of the mosquito fauna is needed for the appropriate control of the vectors that transmit the pathogens and prevent the diseases they cause. An important first step is to have an up-to-date list of the species known to be present in the country. Original occurrence records were obtained from published literature and critically scrutinized to compile a list of the mosquito species that occur within the borders of the Kingdom.ResultsFifty-one species have been recorded in the Kingdom; however, the occurrence of two of these species is unlikely. Thus, the mosquito fauna of the Kingdom comprises 49 species that include 18 anophelines and 31 culicines. Published records are provided for each species. Problematic records based on misidentifications and inappropriate sources are discussed and annotated for clarity.ConclusionIntegrated morphological and molecular methods of identification are needed to refine the list of species and accurately document their distributions in the Kingdom.
Highlights
Mosquito-borne pathogens are important causes of diseases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Anopheles arabiensis is the only member of the complex with a range that extends outside of Africa into the southwestern and western areas of the Arabian Peninsula, occurring in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Yemen, where it is the major malaria vector [2, 3, 7, 72,73,74,75]
Molecular analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region of rDNA has shown that An. arabiensis (GenBank: KM068071) is the only member of An. gambiae complex present in the KSA [59]
Summary
Mosquito-borne pathogens are important causes of diseases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula (c.3 million km2) includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Mosquito-borne pathogens cause several diseases in the KSA. The distribution and abundance of mosquito species are influenced by host availability and human activities, changes in land cover and climatic conditions, such as temperature and rainfall [8]. These conditions significantly affect the vectorial capacity of anopheline and other mosquitoes for pathogen transmission. Understanding these factors is essential for disease control
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