New mosquito species found on Guam

The Division of Environmental Health of the Department of Public Health and Social Services has been conducting mosquito surveillance around the island. The surveillance program discovered the previously unrecorded mosquito species with the assistance of an entomologist from the zika emergency and preparedness project. The mosquito was identified as Wyeomyia Mitchelli through both morphological identification and DNA analysis. Although the female of this species of mosquito does suck the blood of warm blooded animals, it’s not known to transmit diseases to humans. This species has traveled to places like Tahiti via illegal bromeliad imports from Hawaii. Department of agriculture entomologist Dr. Russell Campbell says that although his department inspects legal imports of bromeliads from both the Philippines and Hawaii it’s possible that the mosquito arrived here on smuggled plants. It’s not yet clear how widely distributed the species is on Guam yet as the specimens were all found at one location. According to a release from Public Health this is a reminder that Guam is highly vulnerable to the introduction of invasive species. Although this species of mosquito is not known to transmit disease there are other species that do transmit diseases that can just as easily make their way to Guam. The public can do its part to prevent the spread of mosquitos-read more