morphological aberrations of the dirofilariasis, sindbis fever and west nile fever vector culex theileri (diptera: culicidae) in iran

Background: culex theileri (diptera: culicidae) is a known vector of pathogens that cause dirofilariasis, sindbis fever and west nile fever in iran. the species is one of the country’s most abundant and widely distributed species.methods: in order to conduct a faunistic and bionomic study of mosquitoes, larval collection was carried out in chahar mahal and bakhtiari province of western iran using dipping method.results: in total, some 2096 larvae of cx. theileri were identified. among the larvae, 1024 (48.9%) displayed aberrations and anomalies in the development of cranial seta 1-c (preclypeal seta). morphological aberrations and anomaliesof seta 1-c in the third- and fourth-instar larvae and abdominal terga of the adults of cx. theileri collected in iran are discussed and illustrated.conclusion: more studies are needed throughout the distribution of cx. theileri to analyze the variation of the species,especially using both morphological and molecular data.