title: Dry season refugia for anopheline larvae and mapping of the seasonal distribution in mosquito larval habitats in Kandi, northeastern Benin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The dynamics of mosquito populations depends on availability of suitable surface water for oviposition. It is well known that suitable management of mosquito larval habitats in the sub-Saharan countries, particularly during droughts, could help to suppress vector densities and malaria transmission. We conducted a field survey to investigate the spatial and seasonal distribution of mosquito larval habitats and identify drought-refugia for anopheline larvae.
  
  
  METHODS
  A GIS approach was used to identify, geo-reference and follow up longitudinally from May 2012 to May 2013, all mosquito breeding sites in two rural sites (Yondarou and Thui), one urban (Kossarou), and one peri-urban (Pèdè) site at Kandi, a municipality in northeastern Benin. In Kandi, droughts are excessive with no rain for nearly six months and a lot of sunshine. A comprehensive record of mosquito larval habitats was conducted periodically in all sites for the identification of drought-refugia of anopheline larval stages. With geospatialisation data, seasonal larval distribution maps were generated for each study site with the software ArcGIS version 10.2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 187 mosquito breeding sites were identified of which 29.95% were recorded during drought. In rural, peri-urban and urban sites, most of the drought-refugia of anopheline larvae were domestic in nature (61.54%). Moreover, in rural settings, anopheline larvae were also sampled in cisterns and wells (25% of larval habitats sampled during drought in Yondarou and 20% in Thui). The mapping showed a significant decrease in the spatial distribution of mosquito larval habitats in rural, peri-urban and urban sites during drought, except in Yondarou (rural) where the aridity did not seem to influence the distribution of larval habitats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data showed that the main drought-refugia of anopheline larvae were of a domestic nature as well as wells and cisterns. A suitable management of mosquito larvae in sub-Saharan countries, particularly during droughts, should target such larval habitats for a meaningful impact on the dynamics of mosquito populations and malaria transmission.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Entomologique de Cotonou (CREC), 06 BP 2604 Cotonou, Bénin. renaud292@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Govoetchan
authors.forename: Virgile
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gnanguènon
authors.forename: Euloge
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ogouwalé
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oké-Agbo
authors.forename: Roseric
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azondékon
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sovi
authors.forename: Roseline
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Attolou
authors.forename: Kefilath
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Badirou
authors.forename: Ramziyath Agbanrin
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Youssouf
authors.forename: Razaki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ossè
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akogbéto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000502:physiology*; D001541:Benin; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D011891:Rain; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D014505:Urban Population