Culex nigripalpus Distribution Expansion: First Record in Virginia, New County Records in North Carolina, and Revised United States Map.

Abstract

Theobald first described Culex nigripalpus in 1901 from St. Lucia Island of the Lesser Antilles. It is a Neotropical mosquito species that is documented throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the southeastern USA. Reports within the last 3 decades show the species has expanded its range farther into North America and is not only being discovered sporadically but appears to be establishing itself in several states, of which data are underreported and difficult to find. Five female specimens were collected-4 on October 13 and 1 on December 6, 2017-at 3 separate sites in the city of Suffolk, VA-2 in a BG-Sentinel 2® trap, 3 in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light traps-during routine mosquito surveillance; subsequent collections were made in 2019 and 2020. These findings represent the 1st record of Cx. nigripalpus in the state of Virginia and the most northeastern records in the USA. An updated mosquito species checklist for the state of Virginia is provided. Additionally, this report serves to update the records of North Carolina to 28 total counties reporting Cx. nigripalpus. These new records, along with other reports and published studies, show this species now documented in 201 jurisdictions in 16 states of the USA. As recent literature on this species is scarce, we provide a review of the bionomics, defining morphological characters, and an updated US distribution map.