Dispersal behavior of adult snow melt mosquitoes in the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany.
The dispersal behavior of female snow melt mosquitoes was studied in two forests in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, from April to August 1993. Both CDC-light-traps and human bait collections were used to collect mosquitoes. Sampling sites were chosen along a west-east and a north-south transect in treated and untreated parts of a forest with a village in its center. Around this settlement, breeding sites within a radius of 1.5 to 2.5 km were treated. It could be shown that this buffer zone is sufficient to prevent a nuisance caused by snow melt mosquitoes in the village. The results lead to the conclusion that snow melt mosquitoes do not regularly migrate over large distances but stay near their breeding sites. In a detailed study of the behavior of Aedes rusticus, it could be observed that these mosquitoes were resting in the interior of the forest during daytime and leaving it with increasing dusk up to 50 m from the forest edge. A comparison of landing rate counts near a row of trees and in the open field showed higher activity near the row of trees indicating visual orientation of the mosquitoes. Although the Ae. rusticus females left the forest regularly, no nuisance occurred in nearby villages. The treatment of breeding sites near settlements appeared to be sufficient to prevent a nuisance caused by the snow melt mosquitoes.
Schäfer
M
M
German Mosquito Control Association (KABS), Waldşee, Germany.
Storch
V
V
Kaiser
A
A
Beck
M
M
Becker
N
N
D000330:Aedes; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings