Journal of Medical Entomology (2008) 45, 1165-1172

Michael J. Turell, Michael R. Sardelis, James W. Jones, Douglas M. Watts, Roberto Fernandez, Faustino Carbajal, James E. Pecor and Terry A. Klein (2008)
Seasonal distribution, biology, and human attraction patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in a rural village and adjacent forested site near Iquitos, Peru
Journal of Medical Entomology 45 (6), 1165-1172
Abstract: This study was conducted as part of a field-ecology study of arboviral and malarial activity in the Amazon Basin, Loreto Department, Peru, to determine the relative abundance, species diversity, and seasonal and vertical distributions of potential mosquito vectors. Mosquitoes were captured either by volunteers using mouth aspirators while mosquitoes attempted to land on the collectors or in dry ice-baited ABC light traps. Anopheles darlingi, the principal malaria vector in the region, was the most commonly captured anopheline mosquito in Puerto Almendra village (99%) while landing on humans, with a mean of 37.1 mosquitoes captured per 24-h period, representing nearly one half of all mosquitoes collected. An. darlingi human landing activity began shortly after sunset, peaked at 2000-2100 hours, and declined gradually until sunrise. This species readily entered houses, because 51% of the An. darlingi captured by paired collectors, stationed inside and outside houses, were captured indoors. Human landing collections provided a more accurate estimate of human attraction of An. darlingi, capturing 30 times as many as co-located dry ice-baited ABC light traps. In contrast, eight times as many Culex (Melanoconion) species, including known arbovirus vectors, were captured in light traps as by co-located human collectors. Despite being located within 300 m of the village collection site, only a few Anopheles species were captured at the forest collection site, including only 0.1 An darlingi/24 h, thus indicating that An. darlingi activity was directly associated with the rural village. These data provide a better understanding of the taxonomy, population density, and seasonal distribution of potential mosquito vectors of disease within the Amazon Basin region and allow for the development of appropriate vector and disease prevention strategies that target vector populations.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Michael J. Turell, Terry A. Klein, James W. Jones

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anopheles darlingi		Peru
	Anopheles triannulatus		Peru
	Anopheles nuneztovari		Peru
	Anopheles oswaldoi		Peru
	Coquillettidia venezuelensis		Peru
	Aedes fulvus		Peru
	Aedes serratus		Peru
	Psorophora ferox		Peru
	Anopheles benarrochi		Peru
	Anopheles forattinii		Peru
	Psorophora albigenu		Peru
	Anopheles mattogrossensis		Peru
	Anopheles peryassui		Peru
	Anopheles kompi		Peru
	Anopheles shannoni		Peru