Fauna, Abundance, Distribution and Seasonal Activity of Anopheles Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Larval habitats

Introduction: Mosquito – borne diseases are a major public health threat in the world, including Iran. This investigation was undertaken to determine fauna, distribution, frequency and monthly activity of Anopheles larvae in Aligoudarz County. Methods: This descriptive research was carried out during April to December 1997 to study Anopheles mosquitoes fauna and seasonal activity in seven rural districts if Aligoudarz city, Iran. Sampling for Anopheles Larvae was done using standard dipping method. The mosquitoes Larvae were catched from larval habitats every fifteen days. The Larvae for each habitat were placed separately in test – tubes and transferred to the Laboratory. All III and IV instars of Anopheles larvae were preserved in Lactophenol solution and later identified into species using a Microscope. Results: 9620 mosquito specimens from 115 breeding sites in 22 villages were collected. Eight species were identified: Anopheles superpictus Grassi, 1899 (93.18%), A. turkhudi Listin, 1901 (2. 84%), A. maculipennis Meigen, 1818 (1.99%), A. marteri sogdianus Keshishian, 1938 (0.61%), A. dthali Patton, 1905 (0.45%), A. Sacharovi Favre, 1903 (0.35%), A. claviger Meigen, 1804 (0.29%). A. stephensi Liston, 1901 (0.24%) and A. apoci Marsh, 1933 (0.05%). A. maculipennis, A. sacharovi, A. stephensi and A. dthali are reported for the first time in this county. A. superpictus was the most frequent and distribution Anopheles mosquito collected at the Aligoudarz. Anopheles larvae started to appear in late May or mid June and ended in mid November in the breeding places of Zallaghi – Sharghi and Zez – Sharghi districts. The curve of activity has only one peak in the second half of August. Conclusion: A lot of questions about the bionomics of Anopheles mosquitoes in Iran (especially in regions of western Iran) remain to be answered, that have yet to be studied