Aedes albopictus
(Skuse, 1894) · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Aedes albopictus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation19 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility100 725 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI5 360 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 777 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Aedes albopictus (Stegomyia albopicta), from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, also known as the (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito, is a mosquito native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia. In the past few centuries, however, this species has spread to many countries through the transport of goods and international travel. It is characterized by the white bands on its legs and body. This mosquito has become a significant pest in many communities because it closely associates with humans (rather than living in wetlands), and typically flies and feeds in the daytime in addition to at dusk and dawn. The insect is called a tiger mosquito for its striped appearance, which resembles that of the tiger. Ae. albopictus is an epidemiologically important vector for the transmission of many viral pathogens, including the yellow fever virus, dengue fever, and Chikungunya fever, as well as several filarial nematodes such as Dirofilaria immitis. Aedes albopictus is capable of hosting the Zika virus and is considered a potential vector for Zika transmission among humans.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Aedes albopictus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Aedes albopictus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 65×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Tree of Sex Database · GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database +1
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type100 725 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions18 of 39 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Unikinlocation not on record | 2 694 |
| Washington, US | 2 573 |
| New Haven, US | 939 |
| Tempe, US | 834 |
| Ciudad de México, MX | 628 |
| San Nicolás de los Garza, MX | 97 |
| CUlocation not on record | 76 |
| Fundação Oswaldo Cruzlocation not on record | 56 |
| San Francisco, US | 54 |
| Centro Regional de Investigación en Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud Públicalocation not on record | 49 |
| LUXEMBOURG, LU | 19 |
| Champaign, US | 17 |
| SUMClocation not on record | 14 |
| University of Queensland Insect Collectionlocation not on record | 11 |
| Natick, US | 11 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 10 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 10 |
| National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineeringlocation not on record | 10 |
| UFPRlocation not on record | 10 |
| Harold Winfred Manter Laboratory of Parasitologylocation not on record | 10 |
| Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kourílocation not on record | 5 |
| QSBG/BMNHlocation not on record | 5 |
| Sydney, AU | 4 |
| Essig Museum of Entomologylocation not on record | 4 |
| Denver, US | 4 |
| Cambridge, US | 4 |
| Chiba, JP | 2 |
| Australian National Fish Collectionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Unidad Lagunalocation not on record | 2 |
| National Ecological Observatory Network, United Stateslocation not on record | 2 |
| Animal and Plant Health Agency, UKlocation not on record | 2 |
| University of Central Floridalocation not on record | 1 |
| Philadelphia, US | 1 |
| PUC-RSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Bando, JP | 1 |
| Awka, NG | 1 |
| University of Delawarelocation not on record | 1 |
| Musee cantonal de zoologie de Lausannelocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Aedes albopictus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.