Identification and Geographical Distribution of the Mosquitoes of North America, North of Mexico Paperback – September 20, 2016

Darsie and Ward's "Identification and Geographical Distribution of the Mosquitoes of North America, North of Mexico" has been the standard key for the Culicidae of the continental United States and Canada since 1982. They have now updated this classic work, adding 12 species previously unknown in North America. Originally published by American Mosquito Control Association, the new edition has been produced by the University of Florida Press. This manual does not have the extensive descriptions of the bulky Carpenter and Lacasse, but the latter work, which also has excellent habitus illustrations of the majority of species, is also fairly expensive and somewhat dated, having been published in 1974.The identification of mosquitoes is very important in establishing the presence of vectors of a number of disease causing agents, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue, West Nile virus, and the various encephalitis forms. It is vital to have a good and up to date manual (one of the major vectors of dengue, the Asian tiger mosquito, is a fairly recent addition to our fauna!) The current work fills this requirement and should serve as the main source for identification of adults and larvae for some time to come.

Good book to own if interested in identifying North American mosquitoes. Characters in some keys difficult to distinguish at times but still overall easy to use. The only thing that is lacking in this book is individual descriptions of species. Having these would make identification easier. Despite these few short comings, I still highly recommend this book for people working with mosquitoes.