J Vector Borne Dis 47, June 2010, pp. 103–107 Culicinae mosquitoes in Sanandaj county, Kurdistan province, western Iran S.H. Moosa Kazemi a , F. Karimian a & B. Davari b a Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; b Department of Medical Entomology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Abstract Background & objectives: This study aims at studying mosquito-borne diseases as the major public health threat in Iran. Sanandaj outskirts are considered suitable habitats for mosquito larvae. In view of scanty reports on mosquito-borne disease implementation in this area, a study was undertaken to determine the mosquito fauna and frequency of mosquito larvae at Sanandaj City. Methods: In order to study the mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna, the samples were collected from May to July 2009 using dipping and night catch methods in Sanandaj district, Kurdistan province, western Iran. Results: Three genera and 11 species of the Culicinae subfamily were identified—Aedes vexans Meigen, Ochlerotatus caspius s.l. Pallas (indicating new occurrence records for the province), Culex hortensis Ficalbi, Cx. pipiens Linnaeus, Cx. mimeticus Noe, Cx. theileri Theobald, Culiseta longiareolata Macquart, and Cs. subochrea Edwards. Interpretation & conclusion: Present study revealed that Ae. vexans and Ochlerotatus caspius s.l caught had not been previously recorded in Kurdistan province, highlighting the deficient knowledge of the fauna and distribution of Culicinae mosquitoes of this part of Iran. Key words Culicinae; fauna; Iran; mosquito; Sanandaj Introduction Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, West Nile and Sindbis viruses, Japanese encephalitis, RiftValley fever as well as Dirofilaria immitis (dog heart worm) and D. repens (dirofilariasis) are a major public health threat in Asian countries, including Iran 1–3 . Malaria transmission in this area occurs in summer, most of the malaria cases were observed on borderline with Iraq 4 . Numerous semi-permanent and permanent aquatic habitats in irrigation and drainage systems offer excellent conditions for mosquito development. Consequently, the inhabitants of the surrounding vil- lages suffer a periodical, but long-lasting mosquito nuisance from May to the end of July. Seven species of Anopheles have been recorded in Kurdistan province, namely An. algeriensis Theobad, An. claviger Meigen, An. maculipennis Meigen s.l., An. marteri sogdianus Keshishian, An. sacharovi Favre, An. sergentii Theobald, and An. superpictus Grassi 4 . About 64 species, three subspecies and seven genera of mosquitoes have been reported in Iran 3 . Two genera of Culex, and Culiseta and eight species of the Culicinae subfamily have been reported in Kurdistan province 5 . Three genera of Aedes , Ochlerotatus and Uranotaenia have not been found in Sanandaj previously 5 . Zaim and Cranston 5 did not mention this species in their checklist of Iranian Culicinae. Zaim 6 mentioned two genera and eight species of the subfamily Culicinae (Diptera: Culi-