Ecological and morphological features of the mosquito Aedes dorsalis (Meigen, 1830) on the territory of Russia and neighboring countries

The article presents new data on the features of ecology and distribution of the trans-Holarctic polyzonal mosquito Aedes dorsalis (Meigen, 1830) on the territory of Russia and neighboring countries. Reconstruction of the area of the A. dorsalis mosquito in the Northern Russian plain showed that this species was present here long before the Pleistocene glaciations. Then it was displaced by glaciers to the South and Southeast, where the more heat-loving halophilic species of the A. caspius mosquito was distributed. It is assumed that there was no genetic mixing of these species similar in their ecological preferences and morphology. After the retreat of the continental glaciers, cold-resistant facultatively halophilic A. dorsalis spread to the North of the Russian plain up to the Arctic coast, penetrated to the North American continent via the Bering "bridge", occupying free ecological niches in salty reservoirs. At the larval stage, the A. dorsalis mosquito is found in both salt and fresh water reservoirs, which indicates a high ecological plasticity of this species. The A. dorsalis mosquito is developing steadily in the North of the Russian plain with a reduced number of aquatic predators and low interspecific competition in saline reservoirs (coastal and inland). The conditions of salinity of reservoirs are not favorable for most representatives of the boreal fauna of insects, including blood-sucking mosquitoes. Of the representatives of the family Culicidae in Northern latitudes in slightly saline reservoirs, we have noted the development of only A. dorsalis.