Unexpected spatiotemporal abundance of infected Culex restuans suggest a greater role as a West Nile virus vector for this native species

• A cheap DNA extraction coupled with a molecular assay differentiates WNV vectors.
• Cx. restuans is abundant and infected in urban areas.
• Cx. restuans is an important early and late season vector of WNV.
• Cx. pipiens, a predominantly urban species, co-amplifies WNV late in the season.
• Transmission of WNV by both species potentiates disease risk in disturbed habitats.

Difficulties in correctly differentiating Culex restuans mosquitoes from Culex pipiens have left the spatiotemporal mechanisms underlying the epidemiology of West Nile virus (WNV) in the northeastern United States largely unresolved. We performed weekly surveys across a natural to urban gradient of sites in central New Jersey (USA) and used a rapid and cheap DNA extraction and a species-specific PCR assay to create single species pools for WNV testing. To assess seasonal trends we combined these results with WNV surveillance records generated from grouped Cx. restuans/Cx. pipiens pools tested in 2011–2012. Cx.restuans was found to be highly abundant within all sites and reached especially high abundance in urban wetland habitats greatly disturbed by human action. In contrast, the seasonal presence of Cx. pipiens was greatest in residential and urban habitats and its presence in natural areas was minimal throughout the season. WNV infection rates in both species were similar but Cx. restuans was consistently found infected first and more frequently, even as early as May, whereas WNV was first detected in Cx. pipiens in late July. WNV activity peaked during the month of August when WNV was commonly isolated from both species. The peak in WNV activity in August observed for both species was consistent with data from 2011 to 2012 when Cx. restuans and Cx. pipiens were grouped, although analyzing single species pools increased overall predicted infection levels. Our results support the preeminence of Cx. restuans as an enzootic vector of WNV and strongly suggest this species has become a “native invasive” exploiting human modified habitats and reaching very high abundance there. Importantly, high infection rates in disturbed wetland sites with high populations of Cx. restuans suggest this species may enable the introduction of WNV to urbanized environments where both Culex contribute to transmission potentiating disease risk.

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