Frog-biting

Guides

• Culex territans

  Northern Frog-biting Mosquito

  Culex territans, commonly known as the Northern Frog-biting Mosquito, is a mosquito species with a nearly exclusive feeding relationship with amphibians, particularly frogs. Adult females are strongly attracted to frog vocalizations and exhibit temporal and spatial synchrony with their amphibian hosts. The species is a confirmed vector for multiple amphibian pathogens, including Giant Anuran Trypanosomes, Hepatozoon species, and potentially Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Unlike many Culex species, it poses minimal direct threat to human health due to its host preferences, though it has been found infected with West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus.

  mosquitovectoramphibian-parasitephonotaxisfrog-bitingtrypanosome-vectorHepatozoon-vectorBd-transmissioncave-overwinteringwetland-speciesectothermic-host-specialistdisease-ecologyamphibian-declinehost-synchronyacoustic-orientationCulex-(Neoculex)

• Uranotaenia lowii

  Pale-footed Uranotaenia

  Uranotaenia lowii is a frog-biting mosquito distributed across the Americas. The species exhibits a unique phonotactic behavior: females are attracted to the acoustic calls of male frogs, specifically the barking tree frog (Hyla gratiosa). This represents the first documented case of a female mosquito being attracted to host sound rather than visual or chemical cues. The species inhabits lowland environments and has been documented using 450 Hz frequency detection via antennae to locate hosts.

  frog-bitingphonotaxisacoustic-attractionmosquitoCulicidaeCosta-RicaneotropicallowlandHyla-gratiosa450-HzTheobald-1901