SURVEY OF CULICIDAE FROM IRRIGATION CHANNELS AND DRAINING DITCHES IN SALTA CITY, ARGENTINA

CAROLINA MANGUDO; JOSE F. GIL; ANA C. ALONSO; MARCELA P. CASTILLO; RAQUE GLEISER; RAUL A. MARCÓ

La Plata

Congreso; II Congress of the Latin American Society for Vector Ecology; 2022

Mosquito studies in Salta province have mainly focused in the yungas, the second region with the greatest diversity of mosquitoes in Argentina. However, the Culicidae fauna of the Capital Department (Salta), where the city of Salta is located, is unknown. Salta city is the largest of the province, with a population of 533300 inhabitants and is located within the border of yungas and chacoan phytogeographic regions. It has a temperate climate with dry winter and mild summer. A survey was carried out of irrigation channals and draining ditches across the city. Eleven sites were sampled in sppring (between September and November 2021) and summer (between February and March 2022). In each site and season, 10 water samples were collected with 400 ml dippers; mosquitoes were counted, and a subsample of early instar larvae were bred to the four instar to aid in taxomomic identification, which was based on morphological characters. Over 90% of larvae collected were Culex quinquefasciatus, in both sampling seasons. In spring and summer a very low number of Aedes aegypti were detected, an unusual finding since the species develops mainly in water-holding containers. Other species found include Culex maxi, Cx. tatoi and Anopheles spp. The finding of Anopheles merits further attention; although Argentina was declared malaria-free since 2019, it is important to know where the vectors and potential vectors are present, for a better delimitation of areas at risk of reintroducing the disease. These results highlight that in Salta city, water ways should be monitored regularly for vector control because they are larval habitat to species of epidemiological significance such as Culex quinquefasciatus.