Seasonal Distribution, Biology, and Human Attraction Patterns of Culicine Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in a Forest Near Puerto Almendras, Iquitoes, Peru

Abstract

This study was conducted, as part of a field-ecology study of arboviral activity in the Amazon Basin of Peru, to determine the taxonomy, frequency, seasonal, and vertical distributions of potential mosquito vectors. In addition, the relative efficiency of human-landing collections and dry ice-baited Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-type light traps was determined for collecting mosquitoes. A total of 70 species of mosquitoes from 14 genera were collected from June 1996 through December 1997 of forested site near Puerto Almendras, ^ 20 km west southwest of Iquitos, Peru. Three species Psorophora (Janthinosoma) albigenu (Peryassu), Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) fulvus (Wiedemann), and Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) serratus (Theobald) accounted for 70% of all mosquitoes captured in human landing collections. Overall, biting activity occurred throughout the 24-h cycle, but was higher during daytime hours, primarily because of large populations of two day-biting species, Ps. albigenu and Oc. serratus. Oc. fulvus was active throughout the 24-h cycle, but was more frequently collected during the evening hours. Oc. fulvus, Ps. albigenu, Culex (Melanoconion) pedroi Sirivanakam & Belkin, and a mixture of Culex (Melanoconion) vomerifer Komp, and Culex (Melanoconion) gnomatos Sallum, Ruchings, & Ferreira, accounted for 73% of the mosquitoes captured during the hours of darkness by human collectors. In general, Ochlerotatus spp. and Psorophora spp. were more commonly captured in human landing collections, whereas most Culex spp. were more frequently collected in the dry ice-baited CDC-type light traps. In general, mosquito populations were lowest from June through August when river levels were at their lowest. Two large population peaks occurred in November-December and in February March as a result of "flood-water" mosquito populations (e.g., Ps. albigenu).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA426746

Entities

People

  • Douglas M. Watts
  • James W. Jones
  • Michael J. Turell
  • Michael R. Sardelis
  • Russell E. Coleman

Organizations

  • United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Animals
  • Arbovirus Infections
  • Biomedical Research
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Encephalitis
  • Equine Encephalitis
  • Forests
  • Habitats
  • Health
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Operations
  • Parasitic Diseases
  • Public Health
  • Virus Diseases
  • Viruses
  • Zoonoses

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Vector-Borne Disease and Entomology