Akademik

A genus of mosquitoes (family Culicidae) including over 2000 species. Largely tropical but worldwide in distribution; they are vectors for a number of diseases of humans and of domestic and wild animals and birds. [L. gnat]

- C. nigripalpus mosquito species that is a vector of St. Louis encephalitis within the United States.

- C. pipiens a subspecies complex of the abundant polytypic species, the brown house mosquito or rainbarrel mosquito of temperate climates, which breeds commonly in standing water, especially in artificial containers, and has a 5- to 6-day cycle under optimal conditions; closely related forms are found in tropical areas.

- C. quinquefasciatus mosquito species that could serve as a vector of Wuchereria bancrofti, if this filarial infection were introduced into the United States.

- C. restuans mosquito species that is a secondary or suspected vector of Eastern equine encephalitis and Western equine encephalitis within the United States.

- C. salinarius mosquito species that is a secondary or suspected vector of Eastern equine encephalitis within the United States.

- C. tarsalis a mosquito species that is an important vector of St. Louis and Western equine encephalomyelitis viruses in horses, birds, and humans.

cu·lex 'kyü-.leks n

1) cap a large cosmopolitan genus of mosquitoes that includes the common house mosquito (C. pipiens) of Europe and No. America, a widespread tropical mosquito (C. quinquefasciatus syn. C. fatigans) which transmits some filarial worms parasitic in humans, and other mosquitoes which have been implicated as vectors of virus encephalitides and possibly of other human and animal diseases

2) a mosquito of the genus Culex

cu·li·cine 'kyü-lə-.sīn adj or n

a genus of mosquitoes, worldwide in distribution, of which there are some 600 species. Certain species are important as vectors of filariasis (see also Wuchereria) and viral encephalitis.