Species diversity of mosquitoes of the Genus Culex (Diptera, Culicidae) in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf

<em>Background</em>: Lack of information about the dispersal of vector species barricade surveillance and control. <em>Aims:</em> Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the species diversity of <em>Culex</em> mosquito's larvae in the coastal...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mehdi Khoobdel, Davoud Keshavarzi, Seyed Hassan Mossa-Kazemi, Hossein Sobati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIMS Press 2019-03-01
Series:AIMS Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/publichealth.2019.2.99/fulltext.html
Description
Summary:<em>Background</em>: Lack of information about the dispersal of vector species barricade surveillance and control. <em>Aims:</em> Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the species diversity of <em>Culex</em> mosquito's larvae in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. <em>Methods</em>: Mosquito larvae were collected from six places in three main environmental categories: urban (UA), rural (RA) and uninhabited areas (UNA), using dipping technique. Four dips were taken from each breeding site (350 ml each). Larval investigation was conducted two times a month during the study period. Diversity studies were conducted separately for each category by calculating classic diversity indices. <em>Results</em>: In total, 1369 specimens belonging to 10 different species were collected and identified, as follows: <em>Culex hortensis</em>,<em> Cx. laticinctus</em>,<em> Cx. mimeticus</em>, <em>Cx. perexiguus</em>,<em> Cx. pipiens</em>,<em> Cx. modestus</em>,<em> Cx. sinaiticus</em>, <em>Cx. theileri, Cx. torrentium</em> and<em> Cx. tritaeniorhynchus</em>. None of these mosquito species have been recorded previously in this region. Diversity analysis indicated higher species richness for RA (<em>Margalef</em> 1/26). The average diversity indices for the three environment types ranged from 1.50 to 1.64 for Shannon index and from 0.730 to 0.738 for Simpson index. <em>Conclusions</em>: Biodiversity analysis indicated that species diversity in rural, urban and uninhabited areas is somewhat similar. Therefore, attention to all areas in vector control programs is essential.
ISSN:2327-8994