Review of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from the Afrotropical region using herpetofauna as hosts: conservation and epidemiological consequences of knowing little about many species

Abstract

Mosquitoes are effective vectors of disease‐causing organisms, and some species are duly very well‐studied organisms. Little fundamental biology is known for a large proportion of mosquito taxa, especially in the Afrotropics, including mosquitoes preferring herpetofauna as blood hosts. Since mosquitoes are effective vectors of pathogens, mosquitoes using herpetofauna as hosts require some scientific scrutiny, especially in light of the global decline of reptiles and amphibians. Beyond taxonomic studies, very little is known about pathogens, indigenous or alien, circulating among the Afrotropical herpetofauna. Hepatozoon spp., arguably the best studied vector‐borne pathogens affecting herpetofauna in the region, are used to illustrate this neglect and discussed in light of conservation. Apart from conservation, complex arbovirus disease dynamics warrant a renewed interest in rarely collected mosquito species, including species using herpetofauna as blood hosts. Finally, the literature pertaining to herpetophilic mosquitoes in the Afrotropics is reviewed and compared to that generated elsewhere, and taxa of interest are discussed including references to other haematophagous dipterans feeding on herpetofauna in the region.