The Arrival of the Northern House Mosquito Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula

Culex pipiens L., the northern house mosquito, is the primary vector of West Nile virus to humans along the east coast of North America and thus the focus of much study. This species is an urban container-breeding mosquito whose close contact with humans and flexibility in host choice has led to its classification as a “bridge vector”; that is, it is thought to move zoonotic diseases to humans from vertebrate reservoirs. While this invasive species is now well documented in its established range, which expanded in 2001 to include Canada, the existence of populations of this species along the fringes of its range are less well known. Here we report, using morphological and genetic techniques, the existence of two locations where Cx. pipiens exists in Newfoundland in both expected and unexpected sites based on projected habitat suitability on the island.