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Asian Tiger Mosquito

Scientific Name

Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895) (ITIS)

Common Name

Asian tiger mosquito

Native To
Date of U.S. Introduction

Late 1800s (Hawaii); 1985 (Continental U.S.) (Moore and Mitchell 1997)

Means of Introduction

Arrived accidentally in tires imported from Asia (Moore and Mitchell 1997)

Impact

Has aggressive daytime human-biting behavior and ability to vector many viruses, including West Nile virus (Benedict et al. 2007)

Asian Tiger Mosquito

Asian Tiger Mosquito, adult

Credit

Photo by Susan Ellis

Find more images

Spotlights

  • Asian Tiger Mosquito Found in Vermont

    • Oct 3, 2019
    • Vermont Department of Health.

    • State Agriculture and Health officials announced that the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has been identified for the first time in Vermont. This normally tropical/subtropical species is a known disease vector for Zika, chikungunya and dengue viruses, infecting humans in countries where these diseases are present. The mosquitoes found in Vermont do not currently carry these viruses. Natalie Kwit, public health veterinarian with the Vermont Department of Health, said that while the discovery of Aedes albopictus in the state is notable, Vermont's climate is currently inhospitable for the mosquito species for most of the year, making it unlikely they will be spreading new diseases here any time soon. "The diseases they can carry are not endemic to our area, and in fact are rarely found anywhere in the United States," said Kwit. For more information, visit Vermont's Mosquito Surveillance Program.

  • Have You Seen This Mosquito? Aggressive Mosquito Species Vanishes from Pacific Island

    • Feb 28, 2018
    • DOI. USGS. Western Ecological Research Center.

    • The Asian tiger mosquito can carry dread diseases like Zika, and yellow and dengue fever. After it vanished from Palmyra Atoll, an island in the tropical Pacific, USGS researchers and partners set out to find out why.

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

  • Estimated Potential Range of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the United States

    • 2017
    • DHHS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    • CDC has updated the estimated range maps for Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes by using a model that predicts possible geographic ranges for these mosquitoes in the contiguous United States. The model used county-level records, historical records, and suitable climate variables to predict the likelihood (very low, low, moderate, or high) that these mosquitoes could survive and reproduce if introduced to an area during the months when mosquitoes are locally active.

  • ArboNET Disease Maps

    • DHHS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    • Maps updated to present. Select data by disease (WN), vector (mosquito), state, and year (includes historical data from 2003).

  • West Nile Virus - Data & Maps

    • DHHS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    • Includes final annual and cumulative maps and data from 1999.

Videos

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Partnership
Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government
Academic
Citations