title: Species composition and habitat characterization of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae in semi-urban areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
abstract: Mosquito larvae are purely aquatic and develop in water bodies, the type of which is more or less specific to each species. Therefore, a study was carried out to identify the habitat characters of different mosquito species along with their species composition in semi-urban area of Dhaka in Bangladesh during the month of May and June 2012. A total of 6088 mosquito larvae belonging to 12 species (Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Anopheles barbirostris, Anopheles peditaeniatus, Anopheles vagus, Culex gelidus, Culex hutchinsoni, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Mansonia annulifera, Mansonia uniformis, and Toxorhynchites splendens) under 5 genera were collected from 14 different types of habitats. Culex quinquefsciatus was the dominant (21.7/500 ml) species followed by Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (10.53/500 ml). Dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a were the preeminent predictors for the abundance of all collected mosquito larvae except Ae. aegypti. Water temperature was positively associated with the breeding of An. vagus (r = 0.421, p = <0.001), An. barbirostris (r = 0.489, p = <0.001) and An. peditaeniatus (r = 0.375, p = <0.001). Water depth, distance from nearest house, emergent plant coverage, and alkalinity were found as the basis of larval abundance. Every Culex species and Tx. splendens (r = 0.359, p = 0.001) were found positively associated with chemical oxygen demand, while Mn. annulifera showed negative association (r = -0.115, p = 0.0297). This study also highlighted that various physicochemical factors affect the presence or abundance of mosquito larvae.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Zoology , Jahangirnagar University , Dhaka , Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Kabirul
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bashar
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Zoology , Jahangirnagar University , Dhaka , Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Sayfur
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Zoology , Jahangirnagar University , Dhaka , Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ila Jahan
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Nodi
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Zoology , Jahangirnagar University , Dhaka , Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Abdul Jabber
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Howlader
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D001459:Bangladesh; D044822:Biodiversity; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000032:analysis; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D003465:Culex / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D009033:Culicidae / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D009032:Mosquito Control; D012621:Seasons; D014504:Urban Health; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A
keywords: Bangladesh; Larval habitats; Mosquito; Physicochemical parameter; Semi-urban areas; Species diversity