title: Classification of Spanish mosquitoes in functional groups.
abstract: We present a classification of Spanish mosquitoes according to their different life cycles. The bio-ecological parameters analyzed in our study were oviposition sites, overwintering stages, preferred hosts, and number of generations per year for each species. The results revealed 13 different functional groups. To assess the validity and robustness of the classification system, we analyzed the data from an intensive sampling carried out over a period of 4 years (2005-08) in eastern Spain. In this area, 9 of the 13 functional groups were found. The Jaccard cluster and the principal components analysis (between-group analysis method) revealed 3 different mosquito groups: the tree hole species, the aedine species (except dendrolimnic ones), and the rest of the non-dendrolimnic culicid species. The importance of the different overwintering patterns in distinguishing these 3 classes is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Entomology and Pest Control Laboratory, Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rubén
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bueno-Marí
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Peydró
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D009033:Culicidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012098:Reproduction; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain