The genus and subgenus categories within Culicidae and placement of Ochlerotatus as a subgenus of Aedes.

Many species of Culicidae are of major medical, veterinary, and economic importance. To facilitate discussion among taxonomists, medical entomologists, ecologists, and vector control specialists, it is essential that culicidologists be able to readily recognize individual genera. Adult female mosquitoes, the stage most often encountered in surveys, should be identifiable to genus without dissection with the aid of a good-quality dissecting microscope. Female adult specimens of Ochlerotatus and Aedes as defined by Reinert cannot be identified morphologically without dissection, and no distinct differences in biology, behavior, and ecology distinguish these 2 taxa as currently defined. Use of these names as genera complicates mosquito identification and interferes with information retrieval and communication among taxonomists, medical entomologists, and vector control specialists. Therefore, it is our opinion that Ochlerotatus Lynch Arribalzaga should be placed as a subgenus of Aedes Meigen, Aedes (Ochlerotatus). We believe that the usage of the genus Aedes and the subgenus Ae. (Ochlerotatus) should be restored to the traditional usage during the interval 1906-2000.