This mosquito has become a significant pest in many communities because it closely associates with humans (rather than living in wetlands), and typically flies and feeds in the daytime in addition to at dusk and dawn.

In 1894, a British-Australian entomologist, Frederick A. Askew Skuse, was the first to scientifically describe the Asian tiger mosquito, which he named Culex albopictus (lat.

[7][15][16] The variation of the body size in adult mosquitoes depends on the density of the larval population and food supply within the breeding water.

[citation needed] The proboscis is dark colored, the upper surface of the end segment of the palps is covered in silvery scales, and the labium does not feature a light line on its underside.

[20] Behavioral cues like almost-silent flight and difficulty in catching combined with knowledge of the range of local endemic mosquitoes may also aid this process.

albopictus, is not black and white, but rather beige and grey striped, and has wings with noticeable veins and four dark, indistinct spots.

The tree hole mosquito or Aedes geniculatus – a native to Europe and North Africa – has also been mistaken for Ae. albopictus.

[26] When the adult mosquitoes emerge from their pupal case, they leave the infectious intermediary stage of parasites in the water and close off the infection cycle.

[29] Though they do not commonly occur in the natural habitats of Asian tiger mosquitoes, predatory copepods from the family Cyclopidae seem to willingly feed on them given the opportunity.

In 1966, parts of Asia and the island of India and the Pacific Ocean were denoted as the area of circulation for the Asian tiger mosquito.

In Belgium, they were detected in 2000 and 2013,[40] in 2001 in Montenegro, 2003 in Canton Ticino in southern Switzerland, and Greece, 2004 in Spain and Croatia, 2005 in the Netherlands and Slovenia, 2006 in Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] and 2022 in Cyprus.

[citation needed] In September 2016, Public Health England found eggs, though no mosquitos, in a lorry park at Folkestone service station on the M20, near Westenhanger, which is 6 miles West of the Eurotunnel.

[45] Governments and universities in Switzerland cooperate every year to monitor the invasion using traps at Autobahn rest stations, and also at airports and commercial hubs.

[51][52][53] As of 2013[update], North American land favoring the environmental conditions of the Asian tiger mosquito was expected to more than triple in size in the coming 20 years, especially in urban areas.

[55][56] A 2019 study in Nature Microbiology that modeled expansion of Aedes albopictus due to climate change, urbanization, and human movement found that the species would likely continue to spread throughout the coming decades.

Other parts of Latin America where the Asian tiger mosquito was discovered are the Dominican Republic in 1993, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, and Guatemala in 1995, El Salvador in 1996, Paraguay in 1999, Panama in 2002, and Uruguay and Nicaragua in 2003.

[69][70] Other hypotheses include competition in the larval breeding waters, differences in metabolism and reproductive biology, or a major susceptibility to sporozoans (Apicomplexa).

[77] On the basis of experimental evidence and probability estimates, the likelihood of mechanical or biological transmission of HIV by insects is virtually nonexistent.

For example, tiger mosquitoes are transmitters of Dirofilaria immitis, a parasitic roundworm that causes heart failure in dogs and cats.

[82] In the natural environment, Wolbachia and the Asian tiger mosquito are in a symbiotic relationship, so both species benefit from each other and can evolve together.

This shows how populations of Asian tiger mosquitoes can vary in number of Wolbachia-infected individuals, based on how often the infection is transmitted.

[86] This is because bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility in Wolbachia creates unviable offspring, reducing gene flow between two populations, which can eventually lead to speciation.

albopictus is very difficult to suppress or to control due to its remarkable ability to adapt to various environments, its close contact with humans, and its reproductive biology.

[citation needed] The containment of infestations is generally effected by public health services through area-wide integrated control plans, which aim to reduce the nuisance perceived by populations and the risks of viraemic transmission.

[88] The control of Asian tiger mosquitoes begins with destroying the places where they lay their eggs, which are never far from where people are being bitten, since they are weak fliers, with only about a 180-metre (590 ft) lifetime flying radius.

[citation needed] Any standing water in pools, catchment basins, etc., that cannot be drained, or dumped, can be periodically treated with properly labeled insecticides or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), often formed into doughnut-shaped "mosquito dunks".

albopictus just like the monitoring tool, but it has the added benefit of containing chemicals that are toxic to the mosquitoes when they enter, but do not harm humans.

[99] Although the Wolbachia infection is prevalent in arthropod species, especially the Asian tiger mosquito, it is a useful mechanism for inhibiting the spread of dengue.

[100] In addition, due to the cytoplasmic incompatibility caused by Wolbachia, the artificial infection of males can serve as a biological control as they are unable to reproduce successfully with uninfected females (unidirectional CI).

[85] When artificially infected males are unable to reproduce, the population size can be controlled, thereby reducing the transmission of the harmful disease of interest.