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
Herman A. Ehrenberg
Bergen County MEC, P.O. Box 236, Paramus, N.J. 07652
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.
