The London Underground Mosquito 34183c

The London Underground Mosquito Who would have thought that the London Underground is home to a unique species o f mosquito? The species is known as the London Underground mosquito and is thoug ht to have evolved from Culex pipiens. The London Underground species has been c alled Culex pipiens molestus, because it is a vigorous biter. It is not new, but it is comparatively new in biological . Molestus is know n to have bitten Londoners during the Second World War whilst they were taking r efuge during the air raids. However, there are other references to a mosquito wi th the same name, molestus, 170 years before the war, when there was no undergro und railway system in London or anywhere else in the world. This mosquito was first found in the London Underground, which is why it got its name, but it can be discovered in metro and underground railway stations all ar ound the world. No one really knows much about this insect population yet. Some people suggest that it is a variant of a local Culex pipiens that has adapt ed to living in warmer, underground tunnels, whilst others say that is a souther n (and therefore warmer) variant of C. pipiens that is able to live in the colde r north because it has colonized the warm train tunnels of the underground syste ms. Yet others, notably Kate Byrne and Richard Nichols, propose that it is a complet ely different species from Culex pipiens. Their proof for saying this is that th ere are differences between pipiens and molestus: they display very different be havioural patterns and do not mate readily with one other. C. pipiens molestus will bite rats, mice and humans and dies in cold temperature s but stays active all year round, whereas C. pipiens can tolerate cold weather, just bites birds and hibernates if the weather gets very cold. On the rare occasions when the two species cross breed, the eggs are infertile, which suggests that they are distantly related if at all. Recent studies indicat e that molestus originated in one source but spread rapidly around the world, ma ybe in freight. Second-hand tyres have been held responsible for spreading molestus throughout t he world. There is a huge international trade in second hand tyres and it is inf amously problematic to get all the water out of a tyre that has been left in the rain. Mosquitoes can breed in a tiny amount of water, so this is a possibility. There is a strange and not entirely explained twist to the story of the molestus , the American version of molestus pipiens still bites birds which leads some pe ople to suggest that molestus is a separate species, but that it has formed a hy brid in America with pipiens. This is quite frightening, but quite possible, because the American pipiens can transmit human encephalitis brought about by the West Nile virus, an outbreak of which hit New York in 1999. There is much more to find out about the London Underground mosquito, since the story is only just beginning to unfold. The true story will almost certainly com e out of America where this new mosquito has proved to be the most dangerous. Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several topics, but is currentl y involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you want t o know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.