Abstract
The culicid Culex martinii is an extremely rare species in Germany, with only one reference in the scientific literature, according to which larvae were found once in 1935 in the eastern part of the country. During regular mosquito sampling activities with BG-Sentinel traps, Cx. martinii was rediscovered in autumn 2017 at one location in the German federal state of Thuringia. Prompted by this finding, the Peus mosquito collection at the Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt was checked for further specimens of this species. Indeed, it contained Cx. martinii specimens from two sites in southern Germany from 1973 in addition to the published finding from 1935 and further specimens from that latter site from 1936 and 1951. Due to its rarity, little is known on the ecology of Cx. martinii and nothing on a possible vector role.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Peter Haase and Irene Rademacher, Senckenberg Society of Nature Research, Gelnhausen, for providing access to the Peus collection at the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, and to Francis Schaffner for providing DNA sequences of Swiss Cx. martinii specimens for comparison. Juliane Horenk is acknowledged for technical assistance in the laboratory.
Funding
This work was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) through the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), grant number 2819104615.
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Kuhlisch, C., Kampen, H. & Walther, D. Rediscovery of Culex (Neoculex) martinii Medschid, 1930 (Diptera, Culicidae) in Germany. Parasitol Res 117, 3351–3354 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6056-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6056-7