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Seasonal variation in species composition and relative abundance of mosquitoes in the District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: prospects of dengue fever in the study area

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Abstract

Mosquitoes are important vectors of several diseases including malaria in humans. Effective control on mosquito-borne diseases requires ecological studies on mosquitoes. The study was based on adult collections of mosquitoes from human dwellings, cattle sheds, bathrooms and animal baits, and on larval collections from breeding sites in the study village during October 1996-September 1997, to determine their seasonal variation in species composition and relative abundance of mosquitoes. Five genera of mosquitoes, including Anopheles (six), Culex (five), Aedes (two), Culiseta (one) and Mansonia (one) were found. Overall, Culex quinquefasciatus was 88%, while, remaining each species accounted for ≤ 3.1% of the total mosquito fauna collected. Anopheles species constituted 2.8% of the total mosquitoes collected with An. stephensi showed the highest 47.8%, while An. fluviatilis showed lowest (0.6%). Cattle sheds harboured 4.4 times more mosquitoes compared to those collected from the human dwellings. Abundance was lowest in February, through spring, and reached its peak in May, but decreased again in July. An. stephensi was found during May–October. Aedes caspius and Ae. albopictus were abundant in October. An. culicifacies was present in low numbers during May–November, Mansonia unifromis was collected only from animal bait. Most of the species (13 out of 15) were collected as adults, whereas Culiseta logiaerolata and Cx. vagans were collected only as immatures. Culex quinquefasciatus was the most abundant species found all over the year. While other species have specific seasonality. An. stephensi was found from May through October. Abundance of mosquitoes was lowest in late winter and reached its peak in early summer.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to sincerely thank all my younger brothers and sisters for helping me in the collection of both immature and adult mosquitoes. I am grateful to Professor Dr Muhammad Suleman for his help in the mosquito’s identification and writing the article, as well as for the provision of laboratory facilities for conducting research at the Department of Zoology, University of Peshawar. I am also thankful to Jos Feys, senior research fellow in the Department of Kinesiology at the KU Leuven University (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) for statistical analysis of the data. Thanks to the staff of the Agriculture Research Station, Serai Naurang, Lakki Marwat (Pakistan) for the provision of the meteorological data for the year 1996-97.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ashraf Khan

  2. Elementary and Secondary Education Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ashraf Khan

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  1. Muhammad Ashraf Khan
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Correspondence to Muhammad Ashraf Khan.

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Khan, M.A. Seasonal variation in species composition and relative abundance of mosquitoes in the District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: prospects of dengue fever in the study area. Int J Trop Insect Sci 42, 2221–2231 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00744-3

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