Which mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are candidates for DNA extraction in forensic practice?

Mosquitoes can be of importance in forensic context as a source of the perpretator's DNA. The aim of this study was to find how can we optimize the selection of appropriate mosquito individuals. The study was based on the data of 177833 trapped female mosquitoes and 105236 individuals which were collected directly from human skin. The mean human-specific biting willingness value of Aedes species was the highest (mean: 0.8). Significant differences were found between the human-specific biting willingness value variances of Aedes and Culex (p=0.0117) and barely significant differences between Anopheles and Culiseta (p = 0.5412), as well as between Aedes and Culiseta genera (p = 0.0562). Culiseta species showed the lowest human-specific biting willingness values (mean = 0.16). The mean of the human-specific biting willingness values of univoltine and multivoltine mosquitoes were 0.43 and 0.37 which means no significant difference between the variances of the two groups (p = 0.625). The mean of the human-specific biting willingness values of the predominantly mammal biting and non-mammal biting mosquitoes were 0.45 and 0.03 with a very significant difference (p<0.0001). Only five mosquito species have a relative biting risk index equal or more than 0.03 in Hungary, namely of Aedes vexans (0.43), Ochlerotatus cantans: (0.25), Ochlerotatus sticticus: (0.11), Culex modestus: (0.07) and Aedes cinereus: (0.03). It can be concluded that the mean human-specific biting willingness of mosquitoes depends on the genera, the host preference and it is independent of the annual number of generations or the breeding habitat preference. The relative biting risk index reflects the actual and annual relative abundances and the usefulness and availability of a mosquito for legal purposes reducing the financial and time requirements of the investigations.