Culex vishnui

Culex vishnui is a mosquito belonging to the Culicidae family. It is the most common vector (carrier) of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sarawak.^[10]

Culex vishnui
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Culicidae
Tribe:	Culicini
Genus:	Culex
Subgenus:	Culex
Species:	C. vishnui
Binomial name
Culex vishnui Theobald, 1901
Synonyms
Culex adeloae Baisas, 1938 Culex pseudoinfula Theobald, 1911[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

See also

• Japanese encephalitis

Identification

The Culex vishnui Theobald mosquito species belongs to a sub-type that also includes two other carriers of the Japanese encephalitis virus - Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Culex pseudovishnui Colless.^[11] Since the females of these different species are difficult to morphologically distinguish from one another, an rDNA based diagnostic PCR is used for identification.^[11]

Morphological identification of multiple JEV carrier mosquitoes including Cx. vishnui are based on identifying specific features of the legs, abdomen, palpi, wings, proboscises, and tarsi.^[12] The identification of Cx. vishnui is confirmed by verifying that the "anterior surface of hindfemur with pale stripe does not contrast with dark scaled area".^[10]