The geographic distribution of mosquito species in Sweden

Surveillance of the actual distribution of mosquito species in Northern Europe is fundamental for evaluating risk for emerging pathogens, and for research on potential vectors. The Swedish mosquito fauna composition and geographic distribution, originally described by Professor Christine Dahl in the 1970´s, included 43 species. We have compiled the information published from 1978 to 2012, and our own surveillance data from 2001 to 2013, and compared this with the species list and geographic distribution provided in “Taxonomy and geographic distribution of Swedish Culicidae” by Dahl (1977). New species detected during these 36 years were Culiseta (Culicella) ochroptera (Peus, 1935) published 1984, Aedes (Aedes) rossicus Dolbeskin, Goritzkaja & Mitrofanova, 1930 published 1986, Anopheles (Anopheles) beklemishevi published 1986, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) euedes (Howard, Dyar & Knab, 1912) published 2001, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) nigrinus (Eckstein, 1918) first recorded in 2012, and Anopheles (Anopheles) algeriensis Theobald, 1903, first recorded in 2013. We provide maps with the distribution by province for each species, including historic information up until 1977, and new records from 1978 to 2013, showing the similarities and differences between the old and the new records. Important findings in recent years include the wide distribution of the Sindbis virus enzootic vector Culex (Culex) torrentium Martinii, 1925, and the more limited distribution of the potential West Nile virus vector Culex (Culex) pipiens Linnaeus, 1758. The updated list of mosquito species in Sweden now includes 49 species.