This mosquito species from Papua New Guinea was lost for 90 years – until a photographer snapped a picture of it in Australia

By Cameron Webb, Clinical Associate Professor and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney
Craig Williams, Professor and Dean of Programs (Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences), University of South Australia
Larissa Braz Sousa, PhD candidate on citizen science and public health, University of South Australia
Marlene Walter, Masters of Research Student, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

There are already plenty of mosquitoes in Australia. They bring pest and public health risks to many parts of the country.

Now a new species of mosquito, Aedes shehzadae, has been discovered 90 years after the first (and only other observation) of it in Papua New Guinea – and it’s thanks to citizen science.

Mosquitoes and their health threats

Mosquitoes are simple creatures, but they pose complex health risks. The recent widespread arrival of Japanese encephalitis virus, which caused dozens of cases of disease…

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