First Record Of Culex Interrogator (Diptera: Culicidae) In Hispaniola And Updated Checklist Of Mosquitoes Of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic

Since the beginning of the new century, several studies on the culicid fauna of Hispaniola have increased the knowledge of this group of arthropods, very relevant from the medical and veterinary point of view. Regarding the diversity of the Culicidae family, the most recent findings have been made in the municipality of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. In order to deepen the diversity of the culicids in this mountainous locality of El Cibao, a survey of mosquito breeding sites, mainly natural, was conducted from January 2018 to June 2019. The identification of the specimens was carried out using magnifying glass and binocular microscope, with the help of taxonomic keys. Six new species are reported for Jarabacoa, on which questions such as their bioecology and their role in the transmission of pathogens, among others, are analyzed. The presence of Culex interrogator Dyar and Knab, 1906, a mosquito species recorded for the first time from Hispaniola, and for the second time in the insular Caribbean, is noteworthy. Although this culicid has not been implicated in the transmission of pathogens to humans to date, others species found in this study such as Anopheles crucians Wiedemann, 1828, Aedes scapularis (Rondani, 1848) and Psorophora confinnis (Lynch Arribalzaga, 1891) should be taken into account in surveillance and control programmes, in view of their medical relevance.