The spatial pattern of adult Ochlerotatus albifasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) abundance in relation to habitat characteristics

GLEISER RAQUEL; SCHELOTTO G; GORLA DE

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2002 vol. 16 p. 364 - 371

0269-283X

Ochlerotatus albifasciatus (Macquart) (Diptera: Culicidae) is the mainvector of the western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) virus and potentially of other arboviruses in Argentina. Surges of adult population abundance during the rainy season are a nuisance, affecting milk and beef production. Larvae develop in short periods in shallow temporary ground pools on fresh or brackish water.Although adults seem to disperse long distances from larval habitats, little is known about their habitat preferences. This work studied factors affecting the spatial pattern of adult Oc. albifasciatus abundance. Adult mosquitoes were collected using CDC miniature light traps baited with CO 2 at 28 sites located to the south of Mar Chiquita Lagoon, from November 1997 to April 1998. Each site was typified according to its predominating vegetation cover, potential breeding site occurrence, land slope and cattle density. The spatial and temporal patterns of abundance suggested that Oc. albifasciatus prefers prairies and natural grasslands subject to periodic flooding vs. woodland andfarm land. A discriminant function based on the proximity to potential larval habitats, distance to woodland and land slope accurately classified 95% of the data categorized as having an average high (>500 mosquitoes) or low (