Larviciding offshore islands reduces adulticidal treatment of populated areas adjacent to national wildlife refuges.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has conducted larvicide missions on uninhabited offshore islands of the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge and the National Key Deer Refuge since 2003. The objective of these missions is to reduce the need to apply adulticides on nearby populated islands where private lands are interspersed with refuge lands that support a diverse assemblage of native butterflies and insect-pollinated plants on Big Pine Key, No Name Key, Little Torch Key, Middle Torch Key, and Big Torch Key (the Torch Keys). More than 800 visits were made to refuge islands by Florida Keys Mosquito Control District personnel; 334 aerial larvicide missions were flown. From 2003 to 2010, a marked reduction in adult mosquito numbers was seen on Big Pine Key, and to a lesser extent on No Name Key. Seasonal distribution of mosquitoes was not different, however. Number of aerial adulticide missions flown on Big Pine Key, No Name Key, and the Torch Keys was 2, 1, and 2 in 2003; 9, 10, and 7 in 2004; 4, 4, and 2 in 2005; 6, 6, and 7 in 2006; 1, 0, and 0 in 2007; 3, 2, and 4 in 2008; 4, 3, and 4 in 2009; and 1, 1, and 3 in 2010, respectively. This is a dramatic reduction from prior years; from 1998 to 2002, 57 aerial adulticide missions were flown on Big Pine Key, 45 missions were flown on No Name Key, and 38 on the Torch Keys. Larviciding is an important component of an integrated approach to mosquito management that seeks to reduce environmental impacts on the national wildlife refuges.

Interisland dispersal of the black salt marsh mosquito, Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Florida Keys.

Mark-release-recapture experiments were conducted in 2001 and 2002 to determine whether Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, black salt marsh mosquitoes, were dispersing from uninhabited islands in the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge to inhabited islands within Monroe County, Florida. An estimated 1,658,000 mosquitoes were marked during 2001, and an estimated 300,000 mosquitoes were marked during 2002. Recapture rates were 0.0061% and 0.0117%, respectively. Oc. taeniorhynchus disperse from uninhabited islands to other uninhabited islands and also to inhabited islands, namely, Big Pine Key and No Name Key.

Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus in the Florida Keys, Monroe County, Florida, USA.

More than 30,000 mosquitoes in 22 species or species groups were collected from the Florida Keys, Monroe County, FL, USA, in dry ice-baited light and gravid traps. Dry ice-baited traps collected more mosquitoes than did gravid traps. West Nile virus was detected in pools of Anopheles atropos Dyar & Knab, Deinocerites cancer Theobald, and Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann).

New addition to the mosquito fauna of United States, Anopheles grabhamii (Diptera: Culicidae).

An anopheline mosquito new to the United States was collected in Monroe County, FL, USA. It is Anopheles (Anopheles) grabhamii Theobald, a species common throughout the Greater Antilles area and often found in association with Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann.