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Dina M. Fonseca,1,2*Nusha Keyghobadi,1Colin A. Malcolm,3Ceylan Mehmet,3Francis Schaffner,4Motoyoshi Mogi,5Robert C. Fleischer,1Richard C. Wilkerson2
In the Old World, some mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complexare excellent enzootic vectors of West Nile virus, circulatingthe virus among birds, whereas others bite mainly humans andother mammals. Here we show that, in northern Europe, such formsdiffering in behavior and physiology have unique microsatellitefingerprints with no evidence of gene flow between them, aswould be expected from distinct species. In the United States,however, hybrids between these forms are ubiquitous. Such hybridsbetween human-biters and bird-biters may be the bridge vectorscontributing to the unprecedented severity and range of theWest Nile virus epidemic in North America.
1 Genetics Program, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 3001 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20008–0551, USA. 2 Department of Entomology, Division of Communicable Diseases and Immunology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910–7500, USA. 3 School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. 4 Adege, Entente Interdépartementale pour la Démoustication Méditerranée, 165 avenue Paul Rimbaud, 34184 Montpellier Cedex 4, France. 5 Division of Parasitology, Department of Microbiology, Saga Medical School, Nabeshima 5-1-1, Saga 849-8501, Japan.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed at Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103–1195, USA. E-mail: fonseca{at}acnatsci.org
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